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LIFE 



OF 



NAPOLEON III 



EMPEROR OE THE FRENCH. 



BY 



EDWARD ROTH 



^OTTTT 



BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED BY PATRICK DONAHOE, 

23 Fbanklin Street. 

1856. 

V ^^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1855, hj 
PATRICK DONAHOE, 
In tlie Clerk's Office of the Disti-ict Court of the District of MasaachtisettB. 



THE library! 
OF CONGRESS 



WASHINGTON} 



^ 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



^'^.^^ 



PREFACE. 



The following narrative appeared in the pages 
of a popular Boston weekly newspaper, the Pilot, 
where, though far from possessing any graces of 
style, and though necessarily containing much that 
is not new, it attracted attention enough to en- 
courage the wi'iter to present it in a more per- 
manent form to a more varied circle of readers. 

It is not without serious defects. It pretends to 
little or no philosophy, dry facts alone, generally, 
being given. Its claims to originality are just as 
slight ; the works of well-known writers, principally 
French, and sometimes their language also, having 
been unscrupulously drawn upon ; and it cannot be 
denied that an involuntary partiality for the subject 
may have often somewhat hastened the conclusions. 

The writer of course believes that the facts are 
all relevant and authentic, that the language could 

(3) 



4 PREFACE. 

be borrowed when it perfectly expressed what him- 
self wished to convey, and that the partiality has 
never led him into any undue misrepresentation ; 
but of all this the readers alone can be the judges. 

Extensive extracts from the works of Louis Na- 
poleon are given, and all his letters of any impor- 
tance, his proclamations, decrees, messages, &c., to 
which access could be obtained, are presented with 
as little curtailment as possible. These reveal the 
man as fully as can be expected, and at all events 
enable every reader to judge for himself. 

However serious, then, its deficiencies may be, 
the book is now submitted to the public with the 
confident belief that it will afford every candid reader 
considerable assistance in forming a just idea of the 
merits or demerits of a personage who at present 
occupies the most prominent position on earth, and 
therefore lends at least a temporary interest to the 
most unpretending work connected with his name. 

St, Mary's, Wilmington, Del., Nov., 1855. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAaB 
Illustrious Birth of the Prince. Queen Hortense. Eariy Education, 

Napoleon his Instructor. The Invasion. Emperor Alexander. 

Death of Josephine. Maternal Education. . . . . .13 

CHAPTER II. 

Eetum of Napoleon to the Tuileries. Eeception of Hortense. Con- 
sequences of "Waterloo. The Necklace. Fury of the Eoyalists. 
Departure of the Queen. Separation of the Brothers. Con- 
stance. Arenemberg. Augsburg. Rome. Switzerland. Hopes 
excited by the Revolution of July. . .... 31 



CHAPTER III. 

The Brothers participate in the Italian Insurrection. Death of the 
elder. Hortense saves her remaining Son by a timely Elight. 
Fruitless Application to Louis Philippe. Again ordered to quit 
Paris. Short Stay in England. Return to Arenemberg. Death 
of the Duke of Reichstadt. Deputation from Poland. . . 47 



CHAPTER IV. 

Louis Napoleon an Author. His " Reveries Politiques." " Con- 
siderations sur la Suisse." Refuses the Offer of the Crown of 
Portugal with the Hand of Donna Maria. His " Manuel d'Artil- 

lerie." Life at Arenemberg 57 

1* (5) 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

Napoleonic Reaction. Country restless under Louis Philippe. 
Louis Napoleon persuaded by Partisans that his Time is come. 
Opinions entertained of the Prince at that Period. Chateau- 
briand. Lafayette. Armand Carrel. Personal Appearance. 
Decides on making an Attempt at Strasburg. His Letter on the 
Subject. Failure. Uniyersal Eidicule. Extract from a German 
Newspaper of the Time. Louis Napoleon imprisoned and ex- 
iled. His Accomplices tried and acquitted 



CHAPTER VI. 

Louis Napoleon's Letter to his Mother, regarding the Affair of 
Strasburg. Confident in his Hopes of Success. The Rendez- 
vous. Six in the Morning. Colonel Vaudrey. Address to the 
Fourth Artillery. Enthusiasm. Unsuccessful Attempt on Gen- 
eral Voirol. Total Failure in the Barracks Finckmatt. Impris- 
oned and examined. Sent to Paris. Banished to America. 
Letter to O'Dillon Barrot 85 



CHAPTER VII. 

Continuation of Louis Napoleon's Letter to his Mother. Leaves 
France. On the Atlantic. Rio Janeiro. Arrives in New York. 
Letter to Vieillard. Short Stay in New York. Called back by 
his Mother's Illness. Her Death. Laity's Pamphlet. Louis Na- 
poleon obliged to leave Switzerland in consequence. Letter to 
the Swiss Government. Life in London. Publishes " Id6es Na- 
poleoniennes." . 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Id6es Napol6oniennes. Objects of the work. Progress. No 
Government established on immutable Principles. United 
States and Russia, alone, are fulfilling their Mission. Is France 
to do Nothing 1 Napoleon the testamentary Executor of the 
Revolution. Justice at last done to his Memory. State of 
France on his Accession to Power. Intolerance. His Object 
was to guide France to Liberty. Favors no Party. Centraliza- 
tion of his Authority necessary. His grand Institutions. The 



CONTENTS. 7 

civil Order. Napoleon no systematic Despot. His grand Views 
of forming one great Em'opean Association. Intended to give 
France her full Share of Liberty. Causes of his 'Fall. Napole- 
onian Ideas have taken Koot every -where. Eemarks. . . .115 

CHAPTER IX. 

New Hopes. The " Capitole " projected, but finally abandoned. 
Monthly Publication, "L'Idee Napol^onienne," determined on. 
Extracts. Letter to the " Times." Louis Napoleon, at the Head 
of sixty Men, attempts an Insurrection at Boulogne. History 
of that Affair. Eavorable Aspects of Things at first. Proclama- 
tions. ... 134 

CHAPTER X. 

The Attempt at Boulogne, continued. It is completely frustrated. 
Pirmness of Captain Col-Puygellier. Attempted Eetreat also 
fails. Louis Napoleon and all his Followers captured. The 
Steamboat. Excitement in Paris. The Prince's Proclamation 
to the Prench People. His " Decree." He and his Accomplices 
brought for Trial before the Court of Peers. .... 146 

CHAPTER XI. 

Trial for the attempted Insurrection at Boulogne. Louis Napoleon's 
Discourse. Examination of the Prisoners. Testimony of the 
Witnesses. Discourse of the Procurator General. . . .158 



CHAPTER XII. 

Continuation of the Trial for the Boulogne Attempt. Berryer's 
Speech. Bold Allusions. General Montholon. Barrot's Speech. 
Parquin. Persigny. Dr. Conneau. The Accused sentenced to 
various Terms of Imprisonment 169 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Imprisonment in Ham. Louis Napoleon's own Opinion on his 
Captivity and its Occasion. Ham. Its Situation. Its History. 
The Prince's grateful Letter to his Counsel. His Apartments in 



8 CONTENTS. 

the Fortress of Ham. The Garrison. Close and harsh Eestric- 
tion exercised towards the Prisoner. His Protest. . . . 183 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Prison Life. Gardening. Louis Napoleon's Address to the Shade 
of the Emperor. Letter to Lady Blessington. Sympathy gener- 
ally manifested in his Pavor. Anecdotes. Letter on the ru- 
mored Amnesty. The Clairvoyant 195 

CHAPTER XV. 

"Writings of Louis Napoleon during his Imprisonment in Ham. 
" Historical Fragments." Letter of Chateaubriand. " Analysis 
.of the Sugar Question." . 208 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Notice of " Extinction of Pauperism." Letters of Beranger to the 
Prince, Madame Dudevant's Insight into the Character of Louis 
Napoleon, and the Apprehensions of the Socialist Party in case 
of his Accession to Power 220 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Great Keputation gained for Louis Napoleon by his "Works. The 
People of Central America^ solicit him, in case of Liberation, to 
superintend their contemplated Ship Canal. Correspondence on 
the Subject. Application of Louis Bonaparte, attacked by seri- 
ous Illness, to see his Son at his Bedside, refused by the French 
Government. The Prince's Letter to the King meets no better 

. Success. The Prisoner rejects the Terms oifered by Government, 
and determines to effect his Escape at the first Opportunity. . . 234 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Particulars of the Prince's Escape from the Fortress of Ham. . 250 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Continuation of Louis Napoleon's Escape from Ham. Arrival in 
London, and Letter to the French Ambassador. Doctor Conneau. 262 



CONTENTS. 9 

CHAPTER XX. 

Louis Napoleon in England until Febraary, 1848. Short Sketch 
of the first French Eevolution 274 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Consulate. The Empire. Its Fall. The Eestoration. The 
Chambers. The Eoyal Family. Accession of Charles X. His 
unwise and despotic Administration. The Ordinances. Revolu- 
tion of July. Accession of Louis Philippe, and why his Sub- 
jects were discontented. . . '' 287 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Parties in France. The Ministers. Contest in the Chamber. 
Government Proclamation suppressing the Banquet. Threatening 
State of the City in consequence. National Guards begin to fra- 
ternize with the People. Change of Ministry. Insurrection 
Btill threatening 300 

CHAPTER XXIIT. 

Revolution of 1848 continued. Massacre before Guizot's Residence. 
Measures of the Republicans. Louis Philippe calls oji Thiers 
to form a Ministry. Storming of the Palais Royal and Massa- 
cre of the Municipal Guards. Abdication of the King. Regency 
of the Duchess of Orleans rejected in the Chamber of Deputies, 
and a Republic proclaimed. The new Government takes Posses- 
sion of the Hotel de Ville, and tries to restore Order. . . .315 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Revolution accomplished. Lamartine. Bonapartists exclud- 
ed from Office. Arrival of Louis Napoleon in Paris, and his Let- 
ter to the Government. He is ordered to quit France in twenty- 
four Hours. Jerome's Letter. Louis Napoleon returns to Eng- 
land. Persigny and his Exertions. Elections. Bonapartes in 
the Assembly. Attempted Revolution of the 15th of May. Na- 
tional Workshops. Louis Napoleon is elected Representative of 
Paris and of three Departments 331 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE XXV. 

Causes of the sudden Bonapartist Enthusiasm. Ill "Will of the Ex- 
ecutive Commission. Meetings on the Boulevards. Alarm in 
the Assembly. Project of Proscription against Louis Napoleon. 
Letters from the Prince. His Election sanctioned. Letter of 
Thanks to his Electors. Proclamation of the Prefect, M. Marc 
Dufraisse 344 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Pamous Letter from the Prince to the Assembly. General Cavaignac 
and the word " Kepublic." Thouret's Proposal. New Letter 
from the Prince. The sanguinary Days of June and their 
Causes. General Cavaignac appointed Dictator ; overcomes the 
Insurgents. Louis Napoleon's Letter to General Piat. His Re- 
turn to Paris, and First Appearance in the Assembly. Discus- 
sions on the Constitution. New Attack, and the Prince's Reply. 
Singular Scene in the Assembly. ....... 358 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Louis Napoleon in the Assembly declares Ms willingness to accept 
the Presidential Candidatecy. The new Constitution proclaimed. 
The rival Candidates. Great Popularity of Louis Napoleon. 
The live Eagle. Manifesto of the Prince. Opinions of Thiers 
and Girardin thereupon. Disorders in Rome, and consequent 
Measures of the Government. Letter of Louis Napoleon giving 
his Reasons for not voting. 10th of December. The Prince tri- 
umphant in Paris 374 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Inauguration. The President's Address. Difficulties of Louis 
Napoleon's new Position. Was Prance really a Republic 1 The 
new Constitution ; its radical Defects. The Ministry. Resigna- 
tion of the Minister of the Interior. His Successor fails in his 
Attempt to suppress the Clubs. Alarm of the 29th of January. 
Programme of the Solidarite Republicaine 389 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Extent of the Conspiracy. The Proposition Rateau. Propagand- 



CONTENTS. 11 

ism of the Bed Republicans. Committee of the Street Poitiers. 
Severe Letter from the President to his Cousin Napoleon. Expe- 
dition to Eome. Divisions in the Assembly. New Elections, and 
Successes of the Mountain. The President's Message. The 
Red Republicans, headed by Ledru Rollin, attempt another In- 
surrection, but are completely discomfited. Oudinot besieges 
and takes Rome 404 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Affairs in Rome. Letter of Louis Napoleon on the Subject. Res- 
ignation of the Minister of Public Instruction. Adjournment of 
the Assembly. State of Parties. Increasing Popularity of Louis 
Napoleon among the Army and the People. The Insurgent of 
June. Railroad Pestivities. The European Powers. Return of 
the Assembly. Debate on the Roman Letter. Difficulty of 
the IMinisters. Duel between Thiers and Bixio. Victor Hugo. 
Louis Napoleon dismisses his Ministers. ..... 422 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Proceedings of the Year 1849-50. The new Ministry. Montalem- 
bert's Speech. The "Raft." Progress of Socialism. New Elec- 
tions. Socialists triumphant in Paris. Anger of the Assembly. 
Debates on the Restriction of Universal Suffrage. The " Vile 
Multitude." Three million Voters disfranchised. Prosperous 
Condition of Prance. " A Year Ago." Proposal to increase the 
President's Salary passed after strong Opposition. Adjournment 
of the Assembly, President's Tour through the East and West. 
Famous Discourse at Lyons. Plots of the Royalists. The Vis- 
its to Claremont. The Congress of "Wisbaden. Barthelemy 
Circular. What of the Constitution 1 442 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Dispute between General Changarnier and the Government. The 
Review at Satory. Alarm of the Permanent Committee. Ru- 
mored Conspiracy of the Assembly to depose Louis Napoleon, 
and make Changarnier Dictator. Society of 10th of December 
dissolved. Reopening of the Assembly. President's Message 
gives some Glimpses of his future Policy. Spurious Message. 
General Changarnier openly opposes the President, and obligea 



12 CONTENTS. 

the Ministry to resign. He is removed from his Command. 
Stormy Scene in the Assembly, resulting in the immediate Kes- 
ignation of the new Ministry. France for three Months without 
a regular Cabinet. Joy of the Socialists. The Author of " Le 
Spectre Rouge " tries to alarm the Country. The Dotation Bill 
rejected by a Coalition of all Parties. Montalembert's Speech. 
Popularity of the President. Public Topics 461 



CHAPTEB XXXIII. 

S'amous Dijon Speech, in which Louis Napoleon announces his 
Disagreement with the Assembly and his Determination to obey 
the Will of Prance. Anger of the Assembly, and General Chan- 
garnier's Outbreak. Discussion on the Ee vision of the Constitu- 
tion. Victor Hugo's angry Apostrophe. Rejection of the Bill. 
The Assembly is prorogued. Candidates for 1852. Alarming 
State of Prance. Spread of Socialism. Who is to make Head 
against it 1 Louis Napoleon's Policy. Was it perjured 1 Was 
it not his only Alternative ? Return of the Assembly. President's 
Message advocating the Revision. Revision rejected by a Major- 
ity of Three. A Bill claiming the direct Authority of the As- 
sembly over the Army is defeated through the Aid of the Moun- 
tain. Louis Napoleon again publicly announces his Policy. New 
Bill introduced reasserting t4ie Authority of the Assembly over 
the Army, and defining Grounds for impeaching the President. 
The Crisis approaches 481 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Coup d'Etat. The Soiree. Last Orders. The Decree and 
Proclamations. Principal Points of Paris possessed by the 
Troops. Arrest of all Persons likely to prove dangerous. Tran- 
quillity of the City. Details ' . . .504 



CHAPTEH XXXV. 

The Coup d'Etat continued. Action of the Representatives. The 
High Court. Session in the 10th Arrondissement. Little Pight- 
ing until Thursday, when General Magnan completely conquers 
the Insurgents. Dreadful News from the Provinces. Proclama- 
tion. General Election. Louis Napoleon invested with Supreme 
Authority by more than Seven Millions of Votes. Conclusion. 527 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 



CHAPTER I. 



Illustrious Birth of the Prince. — Queen Hortense. — Early 
Education. — Napoleon his Instructor. — The Invasion. — 
Emperor Alexander. — Death of Josephine. — Maternal 
Education. 

Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was born at 
Paris, April 20, 1808. He was the third son of Louis 
Napoleon, the King of Holland, and of Hortense Beau- 
harnois, sister of Prince Eugene, and daughter of the 
Empress Josephine. The Moniteur of April 31st thus 
announced the event of his birth : — 

" Yesterday morning, at one o'clock, her majesty, the 
Queen of Holland, was safely delivered of a prince. In 
conformity with article 40 of the act of the constitu- 
tions of 28 Eloreal, year 12, M. the Chancellor of the 
empire attested the birth, and wrote immediately to the 
Emperor, the Empress, and the King of Holland, to com- 
municate the intelligence. At five o'clock in the evening 
the act of birth was received by the arch-chancellor, as- 
sisted by his eminence, Regnault, (de St. Jean d'Angely,) 
minister of state, and state secretary of the imperial 



14 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

family. In the absence of tlie emperor, the new-born 
prince has not yet received his name. This will be pro- 
vided for him by an ulterior act^ according to the orders 
of his majesty." 

Prince Louis Napoleon was not, in fact, baptized till 
three years after, at the palace of Fontainebleau, by the 
Cardinal Fesch, when he was held at the baptismal font 
by the emperor himself, and the new empress, Maria 
Louise. He then received the name of Charles Louis 
Napoleon. 

The eldest son of Hortense, born in 1802, was called 
Napoleon Louis Charles. He died in 1807. A little 
before the period of the coronation, in 1804, Hortense 
had another son, who was baptized by Pope Pius YIL, 
under the name of Napoleon Louis. Each of these 
children had also had Napoleon for godfather. 

The birth of Louis Napoleon, being the first that took 
place during the imperial regime, was celebrated with 
splendid fetes and rejoicings. Throughout the whole 
extent of the empire, from Hamburg to Genoa, from 
the Danube to the Atlantic, salvos of artillery announced 
the event. The emperor being at that time childless, the 
sons of his brother Louis seemed destined one day to 
inherit his power and glory. " France," says an histori- 
an, '^ was at this moment at the summit of her greatness. 
The genius of Napoleon reorganized Europe, and the 
supremacy of the French revolution was felt by all. 
To give his continental power the idea of duration and 
stability, the emperor hailed with joy the arrival of male 
heirs to his political fortune. At this glorious epoch 
divorce from the Empress Josephine had not been 
thought of, even by Napoleon himself. It was as the 
future developers, then, of his projects, of his thoughts. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 15 

name, and power, that lie regarded tlie cliildren of his 
brothers whom the plebiscite of the year 1^ (1804) 
called upon to succeed him. The Prince Louis Napo- 
leon was for him the second heir of the empire ; and 
accordingly his birth was hailed with the most lively 
acclamations of joy by the emperor and by the French 
people. The most brilliant honors and the solemnity 
of public rejoicings surrounded him at his birth." 

A remarkable circumstance mentioned in the same 
liistory deserves to be related here. 

A family register, destined for the children of the im- 
perial dynasty, had been deposited with the senate, aa 
the great book of the rights of succession. The name 
of the new prince, Louis, was inscribed there the first, 
with all the pomp of a consecration. That of the King 
of Eome was the second and last. Of these two princes, 
born amid such splendors and national sympathies, one 
died in exile, we do not know how ; the other — the 
other, — we can now complete the sentence, — after pro- 
scription, incarceration, expulsion, has returned to France 
amidst the roar of popular acclamations : so changeable 
is fortune. 

The Queen Hortense lived at that time in Paris, sep- 
arated from her husband, whom she had been forced to 
marry, and whose disposition could never sympathize 
with her own. She dwelt in a modest mansion in the B-ue 
Cerutti, now Lafitte. She was a woman of rare amiabil- 
ity and charming gentleness, learned, witty, a lover of 
the fine arts, especially music ; moreover, indulgent 
towards the faults of her acquaintances, obliging and 
generous, she possessed all the qualities that can adorn 
a woman, and exalted them less by the dignity of her 
rank than by the graces of her person. A pupil of 



16 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Madame Campan, she liad distinguislied herself at the 
celebrated Maison d'Ecouen by her literary success, and 
especially by her talent for music and drawing. 

Louis Napoleon, raised under the eyes of such a 
mother, received an early education, the wise, and at the 
same time severe principles of which had a powerful in- 
fluence on the future of the young prince. Undoubted- 
ly Hortense felt that, especially in such times as she 
lived in, true grandeur consisted only in real merit, and 
that it was by the heart and soul alone that a man could 
aspire to become any thing. Expected in course of 
time to reign, perhaps in Holland, perhaps elsewhere, 
Louis Napoleon was educated, from an early age, with 
little indulgence, like any child of the people. The 
severity of the training to which he was subjected, in 
order to strengthen his body as well as to develop his 
mind, often disquieted his grandmother, the Empress Jo- 
sephine, whose idol he soon became. She could not, 
however, obtain any relaxation from the principles of 
the rigorous and manly education which Hortense had 
fortunately adopted. 

Napoleon, absorbed in the great affairs of his reign, 
could hardly spare his family his hours of repast. He 
generally breakfasted in his cabinet, at a little table to 
which none were allowed except the two sons of the 
King of Holland. He sent for them frequently, in order 
to ascertain, by himself, the progress of the education, 
and the development of the ideas of those two young 
princes, on whom rested all the hopes of the Napoleonic 
future. He examined them with interest, listened with 
pleasure to their infant prattle, told them stories and 
explained their meaning ; then, to exercise their intelli- 
gence, he required a clear and brief repetition of what 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 17 

they had heard^ and whenever he remarked in these 
children any displays of reason or other signs of intel- 
lectual advancement, he testified a most lively satisfac- 
tion. 

When we see the great Napoleon, in all the splendor 
of his glory, holding in one hand the sceptre of the 
world, and taking in the other the professor's ferula in 
order to advance the education of his nephews, we are 
reminded of Henry IV. riding about on a cane to amuse 
his children. Greatness does not fall when it makes 
itself little for the sake of childhood. 

However, Napoleon, desirous of having a direct heir, 
soon married the daughter of the Emperor of Aus- 
tria, who gave him the offspring he so much desired. 
The birth of the King of Rome, however, does not ap- 
pear to have altered the profound affection which he 
had conceived for his two nephews : he still continued 
to regard them as the possible perpetuators of his race 
and name. 

"We find the following anecdote in a work published 
in London : — 

" I had been introduced to the emperor. He ap- 
peared troubled, though his voice was firm, and his 
thoughts clear and precise. I was listening with pro- 
found attention to his observations, when I suddenly 
noticed the door by which he had entered to be half 
open. I was moving to shut it, when all at once a child 
slipped into the room and approached the emperor. He 
was a charming boy of six or seven years, with light 
curly hair and expressive blue eyes. His face wore an 
expression of. sorrow, and his whole deportment showed 
an emotion which he tried to restrain, 
a* 



18 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^ Approacliing the emperor, he knelt down before 
him, placed his head and hands on his knees, and com- 
menced to weep. 

" * What is the matter, Louis ? ' cried the emperor 
with an accent of vexation at the interruption. ' What 
are you crying for ? ' 

" ' Sire, governess has just told me that you are going 
to the wars. O, don't go ! don't go ! ' 

'' ' But why should I not go ? ' asked the emperor, 
with a voice suddenly softened by the solicitude of his 
young nephew — for it was Louis Napoleon i ' why must 
not I go ? ' he said, passing his hand over his blond 
curls ; * it is not the first time I am going to the wars. 
Why are you grieved ? Don't be afraid ; I shall return 
soon.' 

" * O, dear uncle ! ' exclaimed the child, still weep- 
ine, * the bad allies want to kill you. Let me go with 
you.' 

" Here," continued the narrator, " the emperor made 
no reply ; the tenderness of the child went to his heart. 
He took the young prince on his knees and embraced 
him affectionately. He appeared deeply moved ; but im- 
mediately resuming all his firmness, he called ' Hor- 
tense ! ' and as the queen came hastening in, ' Here,' 
said he, ' take away my nephew, and reprimand 
his nurse severely for having exalted the sensibility of 
the child by her inconsiderate words. My fi:iend,' he 
added as they went away, ' perhaps he is the hope of my 



J J5 

race. 



But events proceeded ; the disastrous campaign of 
1812 had commenced to throw a veil of mourning over 
the vast empire. The campaign of January, in 1813, 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 19 

and the defections which were its consequence, soon 
shook the mighty Colossus. The crisis came. France 
was invaded by the armies of Europe. 

In the month of December, Louis, who, since his 
dethronement, effected in 1810 by the incorporation of 
his kingdom with the French empire, had led a retired 
life at Gratz, in Germany, came to take refuge in Paris. 
On hearing of his arrival, Hortense said, " I am glad of 
it ; my husband proves that he is a good Frenchman, by 
returning to his country at a moment when all Europe 
is let loose against her." " He is an honest man," 
she continued, *^ and if our dispositions have been unable 
to sympathize, it is because we had defects that could 
not agree. I had too much pride ; I was spoiled ; I 
thought too much of myself. With such dispositions 
how could I live with a man that was too suspicious ? " 

These few words explain the disunion that always 
prevailed between the two. It may be added that Hor- 
tense dimmed her numerous brilliant qualities by an 
obstinacy of character that was too often invincible. 
Her brother. Prince Eugene, often called her his dear 
stubborn. 

Napoleon said of her at St. Helena, '^ Hortense, so 
good, so generous, so devoted, is not without having 
committed faults against her husband. However eccen- 
tric or insupportable Louis may have been, still he loved 
her ; and, in such a case, with such great interests at 
stake, every woman should manage to subdue herself, 
and to love in return. If she had been able to do so, she 
would have spared herself the vexation of her lawsuits ; 
she would have led a happier life ; she would have fol- 
lowed her husband to Holland, and remained there. 
Louis would not have fled from Amsterdam ; I would 



20 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

not have seen myself constrained to annex his kingdom, 
which contributed as much as any thing else to my ruin, 
and many other things would have turned out dif- 
ferently." 

In the mean time the war had collected around the 
capital. Hortense passed a part of every day, surround- 
ed by her women, busily employed in making lint for 
the wounded, who overflowed the hospitals of Paris. 
These cares, however, and the fear of falling into the 
hands of the enemy, did not prevent her from repairing 
every other day to Malmaison to visit her mother. 

When the council of regency had decided on the de- 
parture of the empress, Marie Louise, Hortense con- 
ceived the most violent anger, and could not refrain from 
expressing it, '^' I am incensed," she exclaimed, " at 
the weakness which I see. You purpose to destroy 
Trance and the emperor." 

'^ Sister," said she to the empress, " you must be 
aware that by quitting Paris you neutralize its defence, 
and lose your crown. You make the sacrifice with 
much resignation." 

'^ You are right," was all Marie Louise's reply ; " but 
it is not my fault ; the council has thus decided." 

La Valette asked Hortense what she intended to do. 

" I will remain at Paris," she replied ; " I will share 
with the Parisians all chances, good or bad." 

The Cossacks were approaching. Notwithstanding 
her husband's injunctions, Hortense persisted in remain- 
ing at Paris. " I wish I were the mother of the King 
of Pome," she said on several occasions. " I would 
inspire all with the energy I could display." 

Pegnault de St. Jean d'Angely, colonel of the 
National Guard, came to her to express the general 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 21 

discouragement caused by the departure of the empress 
and her son. " Unfortunately/' she rephed, " I cannot 
replace her, and I don't doubt that the emperor is exe- 
cuting manoeuvres which will soon bring him here. 
Paris. must hold out ; if the National Guard is willing 
to defend it, tell them that I pledge myself to remain 
here with my children." 

E-egnault hastened to inform the National Guard of 
this determination of the queen ; but the same evening 
he returned to give her back her pledge, as Paris could 
not be defended, and he pressed her immediate depart- 
ure. She still hesitated, when she received a note from 
her husband, who demanded the children to convey 
them away, reminding her that if Paris were taken, the 
young princes might be seized as hostages. This de- 
cided her. She left Paris with her children two days 
before the entry of the allies, at nine o'clock in the 
evening ; passed the night at Glatigny ; thence went to 
Trianon, which she had to leave the same day for fear 
of being carried off by the enemy. On her arrival at 
Pambouillet, she received a new message from Louis, 
who, always apprehensive for the safety of his children, 
now sent her an express order so repair to Blois. 

Here Hprtense had an attack of that pride of which 
we have seen her so ready to accuse herself. Regard- 
ing the solicitude of her husband as a persecution, 
and her spirit revolting against an order which he had 
given in so formal a manner, " Why, I was going to 
Blois," she cried. " Well, since I am ordered to go, I 
will not go." And crossing the forest of Rambouillet, 
at the risk of falling into the hands of the Cossacks, she 
arrived at Navarre, whither her mother had retired. 

It was a great consolation for the excellent Josephine, 



22 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

to find herself thus united with her daughter and grand- 
children. Many projects fluctuated in the mind of Hor- 
tense at this time. She thought for a moment of retir- 
ing to Martinique, to the plantation which still belonged 
to her mother. In the mean time she rented her city 
mansion. 

On the 31st of March the allies entered Paris. Some 
Swedish officers occupied the hotel of Queen Hortense ; 
but they had taken care to leave her apartment undis- 
turbed, as if the mistress of the place had full liberty 
to enter it whenever she deemed proper. Being in- 
formed of this mark of respect, the queen sent her 
reader. Mademoiselle Cochelet, to Paris, to make inqui- 
ries. The latter received from M. de ISTesselrode the 
most positive assurances of the protection of the Emper- 
or Alexander, not only for Hortense, but also for her 
august mother, and her valiant brother. Prince Eugene. 
After hesitating some time, and receiving a humiliating 
reception from Marie Louise, whom she had gone to 
visit at Rambouillet, at last she returned to Paris, and 
found in the Emperor of Russia the kindest disposition 
towards herself and her mother. 

It was stipulated at Fontainebleau, in the act of the 
abdication of the Emperor Napoleon, that she should 
receive a revenue of 400,000 francs, and that she should 
take charge of the children, whilst a revenue of 200,000 
francs was allotted to King Louis. 

The restoration afterwards, thanks to the powerful 
intervention of Alexander, erected her estate, St. Leu, 
into a duchy ; but the government of Louis XVIII. im- 
posed weighty charges on the property of Queen Hor- 
tense. A part of the woods of St. Leu was restored to 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON. III. 23 

the old proprietor, the Prince of Conde ; a sum of 
600,000 francs, which had been deposited by the em- 
peror, in behalf of herself and her mother, in the hands 
of the receiver general of Blois, was given up to the 
Duke d'Angouleme ; in fine, the inscription on the 
treasury of a million and a half francs, which Napoleon 
had assured to Hortense, was repealed. 

Separated from her husband, stripped of the greatest 
part of her fortune, Hortense lived with her mother, 
whose residence was sometimes at Navarre, but gener- 
ally at Malmaison. There she was visited by the Em- 
peror Alexander, M. de Metternich, M. de Nesselrode, 
Prince Leopold, now King of Belgium, and other 
strangers of distinction, who all testified, with the auto- 
crat, their admiration for the fine qualities of the 
princess. 

One day, walking in the environs of Malmaison, they 
went to visit the works at Marly. Prince Eugene was 
one of the company. The Emperor Alexander had 
taken one of the children by the hand, and, too much 
engrossed with the boy to be cautious regarding him- 
self, he did not perceive that his dress was on the point 
of being caught in the wheels. The queen, who saw 
the danger, saved his life by running up with a loud 
shriek, and pushing him quickly away from his perilous 
position. Erom that day the czar's devotion was nn- 
bounded, and he seemed to find himself nowhere so 
happy as at Malmaison. Rovigo, in his memoirs, says 
that Hortense once blamed Alexander for the part he 
had taken in dethroning Napoleon. But he defended 
himself, and assured her he had not had any thing to do 
with it. " The emperor," he said, " was no longer for- 
midable to me, for two expeditions like that of Moscow 



24 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

would be too much in tlie life of any man ; his anger 
could never reach me^ — sol had no reason to desire his 
destruction. But it was not so with my allies, M^ho, 
being his neighbors, had incessantly before their eyes 
the picture of all that had already happened, and all 
that they still dreaded. The Emperor of Austria, in 
particular, was afraid of seeing Napoleon again at Vi- 
enna ; and it was so with the rest. I had to yield to 
their desires ; but as for myself, personally, I wash my 
hands of every thing that has been done." 

Thus spoke the Emperor of Russia. " Queen Hor- 
tense," continues Rovigo, '^' appeared persuaded of the 
truth of this discourse, which she had the goodness to 
repeat to me. For my part, I only saw that an artifice 
had been employed to turn away the reproach for an 
action disloyal in itself, and especially unworthy of a 
great sovereign." 

About this time vexations and griefs of different 
kinds assailed the unhappy queen. The remains of her 
eldest son, who had died in Holland, as has been al- 
ready said, had been taken to France, and deposited in 
the vaults of St. Denis ; the government of Louis XVIII. 
ordered them to be removed. Hortense caused them to 
be transferred to the Church of St. Leu, where they 
are still. 

Then a more agonizing affliction befell her. The Em- 
press Josephine, her mother, whose health had been 
constantly good till the time of the invasion of France 
and the banishment of Napoleon, could not long sur- 
vive the shocks produced by these terrible catastrophes. 
Early in May she had felt a general debility, and though 
she made every effort to resist the disease, she soon sank 
beneath its violence. On the night of the 27th and 28th 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III, 25 

slie received the last succors of religion, and died on the 
S9th, at eleven o'clock in the morning, after giving her 
benediction to her two grandchildren. Queen Hortense 
and Prince Eugene received her last sigh. 

No one was ever more universally regretted than the 
Empress Josephine. She had passed her life in doing 
good ; and it was with justice that she herself said on 
her death bed, " The first wife of Napoleon has never 
caused the shedding of a single tear." 

This premature death had a profound eifect on the 
mother of Louis Napoleon. In dividing the inheritance 
with Eugene, she reserved for herself the payment of 
20,000 francs for salaries, and employed in presents a 
sum of 100,000 francs, much of which she was obliged 
to borrow. May v/e not say that she had inherited her 
mother's excellent heart ? The royal government, how- 
ever, had but little regard for her sensibility. Jose- 
phine's ashes were hardly cold, when M. Blacas, of the 
king's household, came to lay claim on the pictures of 
Malmaison as the property of the state. 

The departure of Prince Eugene was another cruel 
blow to the unhappy sister. She was now almost alone, 
and the altered state of her fortunes no longer admit- 
ting of the expenditure of her days of prosperity, she 
dismissed all her people except three women, and the 
Abbe Bertrand, her children's tutor. 

The latter was a very estimable man, who carefully 
superintended the education of the young princes, and 
provided them with the best masters. 

These two children were certainly of an intelligence 
in advance of their years. '' This proceeded," as Made- 
moiselle Cochelet savs, " from the care which their 
mother gave herself to form their character, and to de- 
3 



26 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

velop tlieir faculties. They were too young, however^ 
to understand very well every thing new that was |)ass- 
ing around them. As they had been always in the habit 
of seeing kings in the members of their own family^ 
when the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Eussia 
were announced for the first time in their presence, they 
asked their governess if they were their uncles, too, and 
if they were to be called so. " No," they were told, 
" you will simply say. Sire." " But," asked the younger, 
^^ are not all kings our uncles ? " They were told that 
the kings they then saw were far from being their un- 
cles, but had come in their turn as conquerors. 

^' Then," resumed Prince Napoleon, ^^ they are the 
enemies of our uncle, the emperor. What do they em- 
brace us for ? " 

"Because the Emperor of Eussia, whom you see, is 
a generous enemy, who, in your misfortune, wishes to 
be useful to you, as well as to mamma. But for him you 
would no longer have any thing, and the condition of 
your uncle, the emperor, would be still more unhappy." 
"We must love him then, this emperor? " "Yes, cer- 
tainly, for you owe him your gratitude." 

Louis, who generally spoke very little, had listened 
very attentively to all this conversation. The first time 
he saw Alexander return he took a little ring that his 
uncle Eugene had given him, and stealing over to the 
emperor quietly, in order to attract no notice, he softly 
slipped the ring into his hand, and then made away with 
all his speed. His mother, however, called him back, 
and asked him what he had done. The child blushing, 
and full of embarrassment, stammered out, "I have 
nothing but the ring ; uncle Eugene gave it to me, and 
I wanted to give it to the emperor because he is good to 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 27 

mamma." Alexander embraced him, put the ring on his 
watch chain, and promised always to wear it. 

The visitors at Malmaison called them ^^ Your Royal 
Highness" &c., which astonished them very much, as 
their mother had always required that they should be 
treated without ceremony, and addressed simply. Napo- 
leon, Louis. She wished that every thing about them 
should contribute to their education, and no mother was 
ever more apprehensive than Queen Hortense of seeing 
her children spoiled by grandeurs ; she always tried to 
convince them, as already remarked, that they were 
really nothing, only what they were worth personally. 

" I have often seen her," says Mademoiselle Cochelet, 
" take her two boys on her knees, and talk with them, 
in order to form their ideas. It was a curious conversa- 
tion to listen to, in those days of the splendors of the 
empire, when these two children were the heirs of so 
many crowns, which the emperor was distributing to his 
brothers, his officers, his allies. Having questioned them 
on every thing that they knew already, she passed in 
review whatever they should know besides, if they were 
to create their own resources for a livelihood. " Sup- 
posing you had no money, and were alone in the world, 
what would you do. Napoleon, to support yourself ? " 

" I would become a soldier, and fight so well that I 
would soon be made an officer." 

" And how would you provide for yourself, Louis ? " 

The little prince, who was not five years old, had lis- 
tened gravely to all that was said; but knowing that the 
gun and the knapsack were altogether beyond his 
strength, he replied, — 

" I would sell violet bouquets, like the little boy at 



28 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

tlie gate of tlie Tuileries^ from whom we purchase them 
every day." 

All present laughed at this singular idea ; but the 
queen interrupted, — 

" This is one of my lessons. The misfortune of 
princes born on the throne is, that they think every 
thing is their due, that they are formed of a different 
nature from other men, and therefore never contract any 
obligations towards them : they are ignorant of human 
miseries, or think themselves beyond their reach. So, 
when misfortune comes, they are surprised, terrified, and 
always remain sunk below their destinies." 
• This was certainly a judicious way to regard things. 
At the first rumor of the hostile invasion of the French 
territory she had wished to make her children feel how 
sensible they should be of this public calamity. She 
described the ravaged fields, the pillaged towns, the 
burning cottages, the poor peasants wandering about 
without shelter, without food, the orphan children. " If 
you were older," she would say, " you would go to de- 
fend your country, and by the side of your uncle, the 
emperor, try to prevent these evils." 

But she was not satisfied merely v/ith their regret that 
they had neither age nor strength to do any such thing ; 
she asked them if they were not willing to share all that 
they possessed with the sufi'erers. The children con- 
sented with joy ; they ofiered their toys, their money, 
every thing. But the queen wished them to do some- 
thing which should remind them every day of the mis- 
fortunes of their country, with which, young as they 
were, they desired to identify themselves. It was agreed 
that, as long as the war lasted on the soil of France, 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 29 

they should deprive themselves of their fruit and sweet- 
meats. Prince Napoleon was quite proud of this pri- 
vation ; he took pains to explain to his younger brother 
how fine it was to be considered as somethings by being 
associated with the common misfortunes. 

After the reduction of their mother's revenues, in 
consequence of the restoration of the Bourbons, the 
children saw perfectly well that fortune had changed, 
and the elder said one day, " I see that we are poor, 
and I am always thinking with my brother what we 
could do, so as to be no longer an expense to mamma. 
Could not I give lessons in Latin, as long as I am too 
young to become a soldier ? " 

But Louis, then six years old, still preferred the violets, 
and encouraged his brother by gravely assuring him that 
he had no doubt they should get on very well. As far 
as herself and her children were concerned, the mother 
hardly regretted her misfortunes. ^^ Our trials," said 
she, ^^ are a good school for my boys, and they must 
profit by them. Souls become strong only by encoun- 
tering reverses. The people," she added, "would be 
better understood, better governed, if all princes had 
happened to meet misfortunes in their youth." 

A few days afterwards Prince Louis gave another 
proof of his courage. He was tortured with a violent 
toothache. "Bring the dentist," said he to his gov- 
erness, " and let him pull out this big tooth that makes 
me suffer so ; but don't tell mamma : it would make her 
unhappy." 

" How do you expect to conceal it from mamma ? " 
asked the governess ; " her room is beside yours ; she 
will hear you scream." " O, I'll not scream," he replied 



30 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

earnestly ; " I promise you I sliau't scream. Am I not 
man enough, to have courage ? " 

The queen, however, was told; but she consented to 
the operation, pretending to know nothing about it. The 
dentist came and extracted a large tooth. But the child 
uttered no cry, and then ran off in triumph to his mother 
to show her the tooth. 

About this time Hortense thought she could do no 
less than present herself before Louis XVIIL, to thank 
him for the duchy of St. Leu. The king gave her a 
most gracious reception. He was enchanted with her 
wit, her tact, her beauty. " jSTever," said he to the 
Duke de Duras, ^^rave I seen a woman uniting such 
grace to such distinguished manners ; and I am a judge 
of women." 

Her husband had retired to Italy, and now claimed 
the children, or at least the eldest. She obstinately 
refused. A lawsuit was the consequence. She en- 
gaged the most distinguished royalist advocates to plead 
her cause. But the rights of a father could not be gain- 
said. It was decided against her ; but on the same 
day news arrived which for a while made every other 
consideration forgotten. Napoleon had landed. On the 
20th of March he returned to Paris. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 31 



CHAPTEK II. 

Return of Napoleon to the Tuileries. — Reception of Hortense. 
— Consequences of Waterloo. — The Necldace. — Fury of 
the Royalists. — Departure of the Queen. — Separation of 
the Brothers. — Constance. — Areneniberg. — Augshurg. — 
Rome. — Switzerland. — Hopes excited hy the Revolution 
of July, 

Hortense was one of the first to congratulate Na- 
poleon on his return to the Tuileries. As she might 
have expected^ she was coldly received. Napoleon re- 
proached her for having remained at Paris, instead of 
having followed or accompanied her husband. " Sire/' 
was her lively reply, '' I had a presentiment that you 
would return, and I waited for you here." Napoleon 
assumed a milder tone, but blamed her also for present- 
ing herself at an audience of the king, and for accepting 
the duchy of St. Leu. 

Next day she brought her children to the emperor, 
who received them with the more joy and affection as the 
implacable diplomacy of the north had deprived him of 
his son, who was retained at Venice with his mother, 
Marie Louise. His nephews seemed to replace the King 
of Rome. He wished that they should be near him as 
often as possible. He showed them all the love he could 
not show his son. He presented them to the people, 
who had watched under his windows to express their 
joy at seeing him again. At the imposing ceremony of 
the Champ de Mai they were still at his side, as though 
they were to serve as a pledge in the new alHance be- 
tween France and the empire : he presented them again 
to the deputations of the army and of the people. 



32 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

Napoleon had ordered Hortense to write to the empress^ 
Marie Louise, to express his desire to see her again, 
though he could hardly expect any result from this pro- 
ceeding, as he knew Marie Louise no longer had her 
liberty. 

In her absence Hortense did the honors of the im- 
perial court. 'No more private life for this princess. 
Her audiences were incessant. Whoever had a favor to 
ask addressed himself to her as the most certain means 
of gaining the emperor's ear. Every evening, at seven 
o'clock, she repaired to the Tuileries, and i^emained 
there till ten ; then she returned home to receive her own 
company. 

Again restored to power, Hortense employed her in- 
fluence, like her mother, in doing services to every body^ 
and preventing reactions. At her pressing recommen- 
dation, the emperor permitted the dowager Duchess of 
Bourbon, and likewise the Duchess of Orleans, to re- 
main in France. But Napoleon never did things by 
halves, and fixed on the former of these ladies an in- 
come of 400,000 francs, and one of 200,000 francs on 
the latter. 

But such acts little aiFected the mighty catastrophe 
that was approaching. The horizon looked very gloomy. 
"Within France, two oppositions, that of the E-oyalista 
and that of the Liberals, announcing a serious change 
in the dispositions of a great number of French, pre- 
saged a strong resistance to the absolute authority of 
Napoleon ; and abroad, the foreign powers had published 
their manifestoes, and declared that they would never 
make either peace or truce with this man, whom they 
proclaimed the enemy of the human race. 

The 12th of June came. Napoleon set out on his 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. g3 

last expedition. Six days after, the disaster of "Water- 
loo annihilated the hopes of the empire. The emperor, 
unable to rally his shattered forces, retired to Malmaison 
in despair. Hortense ilew to console him, and insisted 
on identifying herself y/ith his fate. "It is only my 
duty," she cried. "The emperor has always treated me 
as his child, and I will try, in return, to be his devoted 
and grateful daughter." 

But he was soon forced to take some decisive step : 
he thought of going to America. Just as he was de- 
parting, his nephews were brought to take their last 
leave : it was an affecting scene. Louis, particularly, 
refused to leave him ; he screamed, and insisted that he 
should go and " fire off the cannon." It was necessary 
to take him avf ay by force. The emperor was departing 
almost without money. Hortense, after many entreaties, 
succeeded in making him accept her beautiful necklace, 
valued at 800,000 francs : she sewed it up in a silk rib- 
bon, which he concealed in his dress. He never found 
himself obliged, however, to part with this jewel, till on 
his death bed, when he intrusted it to M. de Montholon, 
Avith orders to restore it to Hortense. This devoted man 
acquitted himself successfully of his commission, and in 
a moment of penury Hortense yielded this rich necklace 
to the King of Bavaria, for an annuity of only 23,000 
francs, which, moreover, had to be paid only two 
years. 

Meanwhile, on June 29, Hortense had returned to 
Paris : her saloon was almost as crowded as ever. She 
was told that the army and people still wanted to fight. 
" It is too late now," said she ; " the emperor has been 
driven away. Those who have rejected him will have 
much to blame themselves for ; but at present all is 



84 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

over." Next day, Curbois, an ex-conventional, came to 
inform her, in the name of a body consisting of colonels 
and some of the generals of the army that they had de- 
cided on overthrowing the provisional government, and 
again placing at the head of the army the emperor, as 
representative, and the result of the revolution. But 
Napoleon was already on the road to Rochefort, and 
every such measure seemed impossible. 

On the 1st of July a numerous assemblage of offi- 
cers at Hortense's house besought her to retire with her 
children into the interior of France, promising their 
devoted support. She refused. " I must now undergo 
whatever fortune fate has destined for me," said she. "I 
am nothing novf. I can't pretend to make people think 
that I rally the troops around me. If I had been Em- 
press of France, I would have done every thing to pro- 
long the defence; but now it does not become me to 
mingle my destinies with such great interests, and I 
must be resigned." 

A few days before the capitulation of Paris, the reaction 
that had manifested itself so basely towards the emperor 
inspired Hortense with new fears for her children. She 
thought herself again obliged to seek a safe retreat for 
them, whilst awaiting events. She refused the kind 
offers of many on this subject, unwilling to have any 
one compromised by showing her such a mark of inter- 
est ; knowing, moreover, that obscurity would protect 
them better than a great palace, she confided them to the 
devotedness of Madame Fessier, who kept a hose estab- 
lishment on the Boulevard Montmartre. It was a re- 
spectable house^ where they did not want comfort, and 
they were kept with the greatest secrecy and care. 

But not long. The order to quit Paris was soon given 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 3S 

to Hortense, whose sojourn at tlie capital, it seems, 
troubled the government. 

The allied sovereigns reentered on the 10th of July. 
This time it was the Prince of Schwartzenberg that came 
to lodge in the hotel of Rue Cerutti. Hortense expected 
that this arrangement would afford her some protection ; 
but her situation was now very different from what it had 
been at the time of the first invasion. The royalists 
blamed her for many of the evils of France ; and the 
Emperor of Russia, whom she had perhaps too much 
neglected, far from assuring her of his protection, as in 
the preceding year, came to her hotel to visit the Prince 
of Schwartzenberg, 'without asking even to see her. 

The fury of her enemies increasing every moment, 
and her presence in Paris continuing to render the court 
of Louis XVIII. uneasy, the government determined 
on requesting the Baron de Muffling, commander of 
Paris for the allies, to signify to the Duchess de St. 
Leu that it was necessary to depart immediately. She 
received, in fact, an order, on the 19th of July, to quit 
Paris in two hours. She was subsequently allowed to 
remain till the evening, and Muffling even offered her an 
escort of the allied troops ; but she would accept of 
nothing in this respect, except the company of an Aus- 
trian officer, the Count de Voyna, aide-de-camp to the 
Prince of Schwartzenberg, and chamberlain of the 
emperor. 

The Prince Louis Napoleon was only seven years old 
when he was thus forced to quit Prance in 1815; he, 
however, fully understood that he was going into exile, 
and obstinately refused to depart. His mother had 
much difficulty in consoling him, and succeeded onlyby 
promising that he should soon return again. We can 



36 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

easily compreliend now the recollections which he 
brought away of the splendors of his childhood, and 
particularly the cruel day of his last separation from 
the emperor must have left an indelible impression on 
his soul. The country of his early years must have been 
always present in his thoughts, but more especially the 
noble face of Napoleon, his uncle. 

Setting out with her children at nine in the evening, 
Hortense rested for the night at the Chateau de Bercy. 
Her journey passed without accident till she came to 
Dale, where the people, thinking that M. de Yoyna was 
carrying her off into captivity, were disposed to handle 
him with little mercy. She found it even necessary to 
speak to the crowd to calm the agitation. But leaving 
France was not all : the difficulty was, to obtain a resting- 
place. She was desirous of retiring to an estate of her 
own, at Pregny, not far from Geneva ; but the French 
minister, resident in Switzerland, immediately notified the 
Swiss government to order her away, as France would 
not allow her to remain so near the frontiers. We may 
easily imagine the embarrassment of the queen. The 
Count de Voj^na, no less embarrassed, wished to conduct 
her back to FrancOj, and, leaving her at Bourgen-bresse, 
to post to Paris for new orders ; but she preferred retir- 
ing to Aix, in Savoy, where new vexations awaited her. 

For hardly had she arrived at Aix, when Louis, her 
husband, relying on the judgment which he had obtained 
in March, claimed his eldest son, and sent a messenger 
to the duchess to conduct him to Rome. After some 
long delays and fruitless remonstrances, the poor mother 
had to resign herself to a separation which deeply 
wounded her heart. One consideration, however, soothed 
her grief a little : the royalist reaction had becom-e a 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL S^T 

terror ; tliis was shown every day by assassinations. Her 
proximity to the borders of France, she was apprehen- 
sive, might be turned to account by the fanatics, and 
herself and her children attacked. She thought then 
that at Eoine her son would be more safe than in Savoy 
or Switzerland, and that he could live there more tran- 
quilly than by continuing, in her company, this wander- 
ing and precarious existence, the termination to which 
she could not yet foresee. 

The day appointed for Napoleon's departure arrived. 
He was in the joint charge of a preceptor chosen by his 
mother, and of a confidential agent of his father. In- 
expressible was the grief of the young prince wdien he 
was forced to tear himself from the last embraces of a 
mother and brother, whose society he had never before 
quitted for a moment. Louis, for his part, was inconso- 
lable. Henceforward he was to be without a compan- 
ion. His disposition, mild, timid, and rather reserved, 
had perfectly agreed with that of his brother ; he was 
not a talker, but his mind, quick, reflective, and pene- 
trating, expressed itself in happy words, full of sense 
and keenness, which seemed to flash like sparks in his 
little conversations with his dear Napoleon. The sep- 
aration made such an impression on him that he fell sick; 
but the disease, a jaundice, soon yielded to the care of 
a physician. 

Still disturbed by the French police, who regarded 
with little pleasure hex prolonged stay at Aix, where the 
Sardinian authorities, too, were spying her movements 
in very vexatious ways, the duchess soon quitted a coun- 
try now odious, and always recalling a most mournful 
recollection. 

Leaving Savoy, she wished to fix her residence at 
4 



B8 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

Constance, in the estates of the Grand Duke of Baden, 
whose wife, Stephanie de Beauharnois, was her cousin ; 
but to arrive there, Switzerland should be crossed, and 
this was no easy matter. The Helvetic government re- 
fused her a passage. Fortunately, the Duke of Eiche- 
lieu intervened, and procured the necessary passport. 

Though her health was bad, she departed from Aix in 
November, accompanied by her son Louis Napoleon, the 
Abbe Bertrand, tutor of the prince, an attendant, and 
Mademoiselle Cochelet, her reader. The first night she 
wished, for economy, to remain at Pregny, her own 
habitation. But the French and Genevese authorities 
would not allow such a favor. At Morat she was even 
detained a prisoner by the gendarmerie of Fribourg for 
two days, until the authorities of the country had or- 
dered otherwise. 

On her arrival at Constance, where she believed her- 
self at the end of her painful journey, she was notified 
that she could not take up her residence there, as the great 
powers had decided that the members of the Bona- 
parte family would be allowed to live only in Prussia, 
Austria, or Russia. " My health," was her reply, ^' and 
the season do not permit me to go farther for the pres- 
ent ; I only want to remain here till spring." The 
Grand Duke of Baden, whose agents spoke so harshly to 
the poor queen, was himself suffering from the influ- 
ence of the great powers. Having daily to sustain the 
cause of his wife, whom he tenderly loved, and whom 
it was desired he should divorce, he found an additional 
embarrassment in the arrival of Hortense, to whom, 
however, he would have desired to be agreeable. The 
grand duchess, not daring to write openly to her cousin, 
sent her secret encouragement. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 39 

" Take patience/' said she, ^' and do not be uneasy ; per- 
haps all will be right by spring. By that time, passions 
will have calmed, and many things shall be forgotten." 

Somewhat assured, she rented a house on the lake 
shore, of which she took possession early in 1816. 
Here she could resume her usual amusements. Music 
and drawing occupied much of her lonely time. The 
neighborhood of the beautiful lake inspired her with 
some songs which have often since been sung by the in- 
habitants of Constance.* She was soon visited in her 
retirement by many of her friends in Germany : Prince 
Eugene came to see her, and passed a few days in her 
society. But this visit, which appeared to restore her 
health, excited some diplomatic commotion, and at a mo- 
ment when she least expected it, she received a letter 
from M. de Metternich, informing her that, having 
heard she was pleased with the banks of the Lake of 
Constance, he had hastened to place at her disposal a 
passport for Bregentz, where she should be treated by 
the Austrian authorities with all proper respect. This 
was polite ; but as she rather mistrusted the intentions 
of the Austrian government, she preferred remaining at 
Constance. 

In spring she returned Eugene's visit by going to 
Berg, on the Wurmsee, a summer residence of the King 
of Bavaria, whose son-in-law, as is well known, her 
brother had become. Soon after, her physicians having 
advised her to pass the summer at Geiss, among the 
mountains of Appenzell, to take baths there, the Landa- 
mann of this canton endeavored to render her stay as 
agreeable as possible. The magistrates of the canton of 

♦ She composed many songs still great faTorites ; among others " Pa/"- 
tantpouT la Syrie" the famous French national air. 



40 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Thurgovia informed her, also, tliat if slie wished to es- 
tablish, herself in their country, she would be sustained 
in doing so by the authorities and the people. This 
proposal was too flattering to be slighted, and Hor- 
tense kept it in reserve. But for the present she 
found Constance very agreeable ; the diplomacy seemed 
to forget her, and she received every attention from all 
classes in the city. Her greatest care here was the ed- 
ucation of her son. She herself taught him such ac- 
complishments as drawing and dancing, for which she 
could not find masters. The evenings were spent in read- 
ing, which was always regulated by the studies of the 
moment. Sometimes it was travels, in connection with 
what he learned in geography ; sometimes biographies, 
or sketches that referred to the part of history at which 
he was engaged. On Saturdays, Hortense devoted to 
him the whole day; she made him repeat all he had 
learned during the week ; and, though it might be 
Latin, or something else quite foreign to what had been 
her own studies, she listened to him with the greatest 
attention, in order to show her son what interest she at- 
tached to his progress. 

Louis, according to Mademoiselle Cochelet, had be- 
come so restless, that it required all the native quickness 
of his intellect for him to learn any thing ; and it was still 
more difficult to watch over him than to induce him to 
study. The good Abbe Bertrand found all his zeal use- 
less, and the queen saw that firmer hands were required 
to control his independent character. Accordingly, 
though the abbe still continued to watch over his pupil 
generally, his most important charges were soon fulfilled 
by M. Lebas, pupil of the Normal School of Paris, a 
young professor of great merit. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. ,^1 

With the following anecdote, narrated by the so often 
quoted Mademoiselle Cochelet, we will close an account 
of his childhood. 

"^ At Constance, as well as at Aix, the prince was in 
the habit of playing with the children of the neighbor- 
hood. One of these, the son of the miller of the bridge 
over the Ehine, his senior by a few years, and a great 
favorite, often induced him to leave bounds. One day 
he had escaped as usual, and whilst the abbe, alarmed 
at his protracted absence, was searching for him in all 
directions, I happened to be the first to see him return- 
ing from his little expedition. He was in his shirt 
sleeves, and walking through the mud and snow in his 
bare feet. He was very shy of meeting me, and wished 
to avoid me ; but I seized him, and insisted on knowing 
how he had come to be in such a trim. And it was with 
difficulty that I induced him to tell me at last, that, whilst 
out on the road, he. had seen a poor family pass by in 
such a state of destitution that he could not bear the 
sight ; so, having no money, he had given one of the 
children his coat, and the other his shoes." 

As he grew up, his features lost in regularity, but 
gained in expression. The latter betokened thoughtful- 
ness, and afterwards that calm energy which is the sub- 
stratum of his character. His education, simple, grave, 
and severe, at the same time, should be attended with 
happy results on a nature so capable as his of retaining 
whatever good it had once received. 

His mother, thus enjoying a tranquil existence at 
Constance, in the winter of 1816, was ever employing 
her time in . arranging her Memoirs, when suddenly, 
at the commencement of 1817, whilst engaged in her 
modest labors, the hatred of her enemies, which seemed 
4* 



42 TAFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

to have been lulled for tlie space of a year, broke 
forth with more hostility than ever, and the Grand 
Duke of Baden receiyed orders to send her out of his 
dominions. Then she remembered the generous offer 
of the citizens of Thurgovia, promising to protect her 
against all the intrigues of diplomacy. In her rides 
around Constance, she had remarked, in this canton, a 
manor that had particularly struck her, from the beauty 
of its situation. It was that of Arenemberg, and she 
now hastened to make it her own, by purchasing it for 
65,000 francs. 

Of this she soon made a delightful residence, where 
she liked to pass the summer and part of the fall, loving 
her new purchase the more dearly, as, by the consent of 
the authorities, she had become a landed property hold- 
er in Switzerland, and thus acquired the right of return- 
ing to this country whenever it pleased her to do so. 
The same year she passed the winter at Augsburg, 
where she also bought a residence. There, at least, she 
was never disturbed ,* her brother came frequently to 
visit her, and she could attend more carefully than ever 
to the education of her son, whose expanding intelligence 
and general progress required professors, who could not 
be found in Switzerland, but were numerous enough at 
Augsburg. 

She enjoyed a great happiness, also, in 1818. A kind 
of reconciliation having been formed between herself 
and her husband, she obtained the favor of having her 
eldest son. Napoleon, at her house for several months. 
It is easy to conceive the joy of the two brothers at 
meeting each other after a separation of three years. 
Hortense had at last found repose, but it was soon ter- 
ribly invaded by death. Within four years she lost 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 43 

three of the few most dear to her on earth. The Em- 
peror Napoleon died in 1821, her brother Eugene in 
1824_,and Maximilian, King of Bavaria, her last pro- 
tector, in 1825. 

At the latter period Lonis ISTapoleon, then seventeen 
years old, had completely finished his studies in the col- 
lege at Augsburg. Nothing, therefore, could detain 
Hortense in Bavaria any longer, and she obtained, with 
much diificulty, permission to dwell in Italy. Accord- 
ingly she generally passed the winters at Rome, and in 
summer returned to Arenemberg. 

Still life had its charms. At Rome she saw herself 
continually surrounded by the most distinguished per- 
sonages. There hearts still faithful to the imperial 
dynasty saluted her queen, as in the times of her great- 
ness. She resided at the Villa Paolina, which belonged 
to her sister-in-law, Pauline, the Princess Borghese. 
Politics being banished from the mixed conversazioni, 
music came to the relief of the general constraint ; but 
when the concert was over, and the majority of the 
visitors gone, a second soiree commenced. It was then 
that Plortense surrendered herself to the pleasure of 
talking of France, surrounded by her intimate friends. 

At Arenemberg she lived still more to her liking. In 
this charming retreat, adorned with many relics of the 
empire, could be seen a table covered with many things 
that had belonged to Josephine, besides the portrait of 
the King of Rome, that had received the last sigh of 
Napoleon. 

Louis Napoleon had always accompanied his mother 
either to Rome or to Switzerland. He profited, by the 
vicinity of Constance, to devote himself with extreme 
zeal to military exercises among a Baden regiment 



44 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

garrisoning this city. He pursued at the same time a 
course of physics and chemistry under the direction of 
a rrenchmauj M. Giestard^ a man of much experience, 
and at the head of a large manufactory. 

Of his life at Arenemberg several anecdotes are re- 
lated which are highly characteristic of his dauntless and 
resolute disposition. We shall give one. 

During the winter of 1828 or 1829, whilst on a visit 
with his aunt, the Grand Duchess of Baden, Louis Napo- 
leon was walking one day on the banks of the Bhine,. 
accompanied by that lady, his two cousins the Princesses 
Josephine and Mary, and several personages of the 
court. The conversation turned on the ancient French 
gallantry. The Princess Mary, of an original and witty 
turn of mind, entered into an enthusiastic eulogium on 
the ages of chivalry ; she exalted the devotedness of the 
brave knights who took for their motto, " God, my Jcing, 
and my lady/' to remain faithful to which they recoiled 
before no dangers and no sacrifices. To this picture of 
the olden virtues she contrasted another of the selfish 
vices of the moderns. Louis Napoleon took up the dis- 
cussion with all the warmth of his age. He contended 
that, in the matter of courage and gallantry, the Prench 
had not degenerated, and that they were still willing to 
do for the ladies all that their fathers had done. " Nev- 
er," he added, " has devotion been wanting to women 
who can inspire it." At this moment they arrived at 
the spot where the Neckar rushes into the Phine, strug- 
gling with impetuosity to force its way through the 
waters of that river. It here presented the aspect of a 
raging sea. This was the end of their walk. They 
were proceeding slowly along the bank of the Neckar ; 
the ladies had enough to do to protect their toilets 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 45 

against a violent breeze^ when a flower, detached by a 
sudden blast from the hair of Princess Mary, was 
blown into the river. 

" See ! " cried the thoughtless girl, laughing at the 
mishap ; '^ that would be a splendid opportunity to a 
knight of old." And saying these words, she showed 
the prince the poor flower, which, hurried along by the 
rapid current, was fast disappearing in the foam. 

"Ah, cousin," cried Louis Napoleon, "this is a 
challenge ! Well, I accept it." 

And on the instant, before any one could think of stop- 
ping him, he plunged, clothes and all, into the raging 
waters. Conceive the consternation of the duchess^ 
of all present, particularly of the young princess whose 
imprudent jest had occasioned such an act of audacity. 
They shrieked, they cried for help, they were in despair. 

In the mean time the prince swam vigorously, strug- 
gling against the violence of the waves. For a long 
time he disappeared behind the billows ; but at last, 
after extraordinary efl'orts, he was seen, holding the pre- 
cious flower in his hand, to regain the shore, safe and 
sound, but frozen. 

" Here," said he, " take your rose, my fair cousin ; but 
for God's sake," he continued, laughing and pointing at 
his dripping garments, "let us hear no more of your 
knights of old." 

Subsequently he was admitted into the camp of Thun, 
in the canton of Berne. This was an institution of the 
government, intended for the instruction of the officers 
of the engineering and artillery corps, under the direc- 
tion of Colonel Dufour, an old colonel of the engineers 
of the Grande Armee. Exercises of all kinds, manoeu- 
vres, instructions, charges over the glaciers, were 



46 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

imposed every day on the members of tlie camp. Louis 
Napoleon recoiled from no fatigue; he took his part at 
every thing, his knapsack on his back, the wheelbarrow 
or the compass in his hand, eating the humblest soldier's 
fare. Like the emperor in his youth, he soon felt that 
his tastes and instincts led him to a profound study of 
the science of artillery. To this he applied himself 
almost exclusively, regarding it as the first science of 
modern warfare. 

He was at the camp of Thun, in the midst of his can- 
nons, when he heard of the revolution of July. This 
event excited his patriotism enthusiastically. He has- 
tened to celebrate with his comrades the resurrection of 
the principle of the people's sovereignty, and the res- 
toration of the French nation in the eyes of Europe. He 
fondly thought that the reappearance of the tricolor, so 
brilliantly illumined by Napoleon, would be the prelude 
of his return to France. Unfortunately, policy has its 
necessities, which often keep down the instinct of gener- 
ous intentions ; and whatever may have been the wishes 
of the government of July, the hatred borne by the 
Holy Alliance against the blood of the great man could 
not cease so soon, and the odious treaties of 1815 were 
still enforced, as well against Napoleon's family as 
against France herself. 

The new king, Louis Philippe, had, however, sent Hor- 
tense gracious words by the Grand Duchess of Baden, 
and her best friends assured her that she could probably 
return to Paris if she did not bring her children. But 
to such a separation she would never consent; as long 
as the proscription struck at them, she was content to 
share their fate. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 47 



CHAPTEE III. 

TJie Brothers participate in the Italian Insurrection. — Death of 
the elder. — Hortense saves her remaining Son hy a timely 
Flight. — Fruitless Application to Louis Philippe. — Again 
ordered to quit Paris. — Short Stay in England. — Return 
to Arenemherg. — Death of the DuTze of Reichstadt. — Depu- 
tation from Poland. 

Deceived in liis expectations of returning to his na- 
tive soilj and fallen from his dreams of glory^ Louis 
Napoleon now turned his eyes towards the Italian pen- 
insula^ where the revolution of July had been followed, 
as usual, by an affcei'-swell of popular insurrection. Italy, 
impatient under the yoke of Austria, longed every day 
for her deliverance, and at the first sound of the tocsin 
of July, believed it to have arrived. The death of the 
beloved and respected Pius YIIL, at all events, hastened 
matters. The patriots relied on the alleged similarity 
of their principles with those of the new French gov- 
ernment ; but different reasons, not here to be enumer- 
ated, prevented France from engaging in an enterprise 
the consequences of which might bring on a general 
conflagration. 

Meanwhile, the fermentation increasing, Louis Napo- 
leon, who was passing the winter of 1830 at Pome, with 
his mother, could not but feel its effects. The insur- 
gents founded great hopes on him and his brother. The 
testimonies of sympathy which he received naturally in- 
cited the apprehension of the papal government, and he 
was soon obliged to avoid the hands of the Poman police 
by a precipitate flight to Florence. Here his elder 
brother, Napoleon, resided. He had married his cousin. 



48 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tlie second daugliter of King Josepli, and he now em- 
ployed himself generally at industrial inventions and 
philosophical studies. 

The insurrection of the Romagna burst out^ at last, 
in 1831. The object of the rising was to overthrow 
Austrian authority in Italy, and to restore national 
unity. To sustain the movement they considered the 
name of Napoleon all powerful ; they invoked the assist- 
ance of the two nephews, v/ho responded immediately 
to their solicitations. 

Hortense was still at Rome. Just before the departure 
of her son she had seen the colonel of the papal guard 
approach her dwelling with fifty men, ordered to con- 
duct Louis Napoleon to the frontiers without delay. 
But the prince having escaped, and the insurrection 
spreading, unable to endure her anxiety any longer, she 
left Rome, to rejoin her sons in Florence ; not, however, 
without having incurred the suspicion of regarding the 
conspirators at least v/ith no unfriendly eye. 

It was not without reason that the papal government 
dreaded the presence in Rome of men who might be- 
come leaders of the insurrection. Just then it was the 
carnival time, and an outbreak was attempted during 
the promenade on the Cor so ; but precautionary measures 
had been taken, and it was soon repressed. 

Meanwhile, Hortense, arriving in Florence, heard that 
her sons had joined the insurgents ; that the young men 
of the towns and villages obeyed them ; in fine, that 
General Armandi, the old tutor of Prince Napoleon, had 
been appointed minister of war by the patriotic party. 

Their father, now Count of St. Leu, was in despair ; 
he blamed Hortense as the cause of the minds of his 
sons having taken such a direction, and expressed his 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 49 

decided wish that she should go and bring them back. 
She naturally objected. '^If they come at all/' said 
she, " it must be only of their own free will. If they 
have taken a decided resolution, my remonstrances cannot 
alter it ; and, after all, people would only say that I was 
going with millions to their assistance." 

The fact is, she was not unwilling that they should 
acquire a little glory, and secretly wished the success 
of their enterprise. Whilst Cardinal Fesch then, in 
concert with their father and their uncle Jerome, sent 
order after order, prayer after prayer, to induce them to 
abandon the insurrection, Hor tense alone held aloof. 
She did not join her entreaties to those of her family, 
though, probabl}-, she might have proved more suc- 
cessful. 

But the inefficiency and temporizing measures of the 
insurgent leaders soon paralyzed the revolutionary action. 
Prince Napoleon wished to press matters, but was with- 
held by the minister of war ; he hastened to defend 
Bologna, and in a pretty brisk action fought there, he, 
as well as his brother Louis, gained much distinction 
for personal bravery. 

But they could not resist the Austrians. Though not 
quite discomfited, the insurgents were obliged to retire 
to Forli, where the unhappy Napoleon was suddenly 
attacked with small pox, and expired in a short time in 
the arms of his disconsolate brother. 

Notwithstanding this discouraging, overwhelming be- 
reavement, Louis Napoleon, whose military genius was 
more decided than his brother's, defended his position 
with obstinacy, and at last gave way only in obedience 
to the repeated orders of the insurrectionary govern- 
ment. A retreat was effected to Ancona ; but, unsup- 
5 



50 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ported by the Frencli, tlie revolutionary party saw them- 
selves obliged to abandon the unequal, and now per- 
fectly hopeless struggle. Henceforth, the question was 
how to escape the vengeance of the offended powers. 
Vessels were engaged to convey them to Greece, but 
many leaders were taken and executed. 

Hortense's anguish on hearing these events may be 
conceived. After the first reverses, her husband wished 
her to embark with her sons, and take them to Corfu ; 
but, fearful of being captured by one of the Austrian 
cruisers of the Adriatic, she conceived the bold resolu- 
tion, unknown to Louis, of taking them to England, 
through France. With a passport ostensibly for An- 
cona, she left Florence, March 10, 1831, having pre- 
viously contrived to procure another passport, under the 
name of an English lady travelling with her two sons. 

Arriving at Foligno, she wrote to them, communi- 
cated all her fears, and said she would wait in that city 
for the result of their enterprise, whatever it might be. 
Her messenger found them at Eorli, in full retreat, just 
at the moment when Napoleon had fallen sick. At this 
news the unhappy mother hastened her journey; but on 
her arrival at Pesaro she met but one son, now her only 
one — Louis Napoleon. It vfas necessary to suppress 
her maternal grief, if even he was to be left. The Aus- 
trians were advancing ; not a moment was to be lost. 
Her English passport mentioned two young men. To 
lull suspicion she passed off as one of her sons the 
young Marquis Zappi, one of the insurgent chiefs, who 
had been ordered to convey to Paris despatches sent by 
the revolutionary government of Bologna. 

At Ancona, Louis Napoleon himself was attacked 
with the small pox ; but maternal devotion was now at 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 51 

hand, and tlie physician soon declared him able to con- 
tinue his journey. The Austrians made the strictest 
search after him, and set a reward on his head ; but a 
report having been spread and believed that he had 
escaped in a small vessel for Malta, the pursuit was re- 
laxed, and the travellers arrived safely in France. 

Here double precautions were necessary to conceal 
their name. The prince, enraptured at the sight of his 
country, prepared a letter in which he asked Louis Phi- 
lippe to be allowed to enter the French army as a pri- 
vate soldier. Before sending it he submitted it to his 
mother. " I read it," says she, " but I did not approve 
such a proceeding." 

At Paris she alighted at the Hotel de Hollande, close 
to the Place Vendome, and immediately informed Louis 
Philippe of her arrival. Her letter was received just 
as Sebastiani was telling the council she had landed in 
Malta. The king charged Casimir Perier, president of 
the Council, to visit her. "I know," said she, "that I have 
transgressed the law ; but I have weighed all the conse- 
quences : you have the right to arrest me ; it would be 
just." ^^ Legal," replied the minister, "but not just." 

Louis Philippe granted her an audience. He spoke 
of the exile of her family as deeply affecting himself. 
'' I know what exile is," said he ; " it is not my fault 
if yours has not ceased." She confessed that her son 
v/as in Paris. The king recommended the greatest dis- 
cretion, adding, " I know you have legal claims here ; 
write a note of what is due to you, and send it to my- 
self only. I nnderstand business, and offer to take 
charge of yours." Hortense was then admitted to see 
the queen and Madame Adelaide, the king's sister^ who 
appeared to sympathize with her maternal afflictions. 



52 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Louis Philippe alone, without excepting even Casimir 
Perier, was av/are of the presence of her son. The 
other ministers knew nothing even of the arrival of the 
duchess. Perier, it appears, made magnificent promises 
regarding the recall of the Napoleon family, and the 
possibility of restoring her the duchy of St. Leu. He 
offered, as a banker, to furnish, in anticipation of this, 
the means of continuing her journey to London. The 
king had already made a similar offer. She refused 
both. Her purse was not yet exhausted ; the morning 
after her arrival in Paris, she had cashed, at Lefebvre's 
bank, an order for 16,000 francs. 

In the mean time Louis Napoleon was attacked with 
a fever, which seemed to increase in violence every day. 
It was now the 5 th of May, the anniversary of the em- 
peror's death. The people were accustomed to signalize 
this day by laying wreaths of evergreens at the base of 
the column in the Place Yendome. This time the 
populace collected there in numbers that strongly testi- 
fied the reverence in which they still held the mighty 
name. 

The mystery of the incognito of the young prince 
and his mother appears to have leaked out among the 
crowd ; and the news, however uncertain, of the pres- 
ence of two such personages, was of a nature to arouse 
the enthusiasm of the masses. The excitement almost 
degenerated into an emeute. But it was by no means 
seditious. Marshal Lobau, then commander of the Na- 
tional Guards, thought nothing more was necessary than 
to bring fire engines^ instead of cannons, to disperse the 
multitude ; and effectually, the action of these aquatic 
machines was sufficient to extinguish the ardor of the 
assemblage. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 53 

But, successful as this manceuvre was, Louis Philippe 
and his ministers were devoured with uneasiness. It 
was absolutely resolved that the duchess should quit 
Trance. She had passed twelve days in Paris ; only for 
the sickness of her son she would not have been toler- 
ated there a moment longer. But at last she should 
go. She embarked at Calais for England on the 10th 
of Msij. 

The authors of the " Biogra^hie des Hommes du Jour^' 
say that before quitting Prance, Louis Napoleon had 
written Louis Philippe a letter of remarkable dignity 
and eloquence, boldly asserting his right as a Prench 
citizen, of which, though the restoration had despoiled 
him of it by the reactionary law of January 12, 1816, the 
government of the tricolor could not deprive him, with- 
out violating its principles and abusing its power. He 
recognized the king as the representative of a great 
nation ; he solicited the honor of serving in the Prench 
ranks ; he prided himself on having embraced, in Italy, 
what he called the cause of the people, and now de- 
manded the privilege of being allowed to die some day 
fighting for his country. 

This letter received no reply ; but its energetic lan- 
guage only convinced the government, more deeply than 
ever, of the dangerous character of the writer. 

On their arrival in London, Hortense and her son were 
honored by men of all parties in England with a very 
flattering reception. The famous Talleyrand, then Prench 
ambassador, sent one of his confidants to learn the object 
of their journey. The prince's reply was, that he in- 
tended to pass a few days in England with a view to 
instruction. He visited, in fact, during his stay, the 
principal industrial and scientific establishments with 
5* 



54 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

scrupulous care ; but he refused all the offers of hospi- 
tality lavished on hmi^ being unwilling to accept any 
favor from the English out of respect for the memory 
of the great emperor, whose bitterest enemies the English 
had always been. 

As to the Duchess of St. Leu, she replied to Talley- 
rand's question that, not having had any particular object 
in her journey to England, her intention was to return 
immediately to Switzerland through Belgium. 

This reply disturbed the whole corps diplomatique. 
Her presence was more dreaded at Brussels than at Paris. 
The Belgians might elect her son to their vacant throne, 
and the English journals declared that she had come to 
London only to influence the government in his favor. 
Talleyrand offered her a passport under a supposed name, 
by means of which she could traverse the north of France. 
Her answer was, that she had already written to Louis 
Philippe for this permission, and that she was compelled 
to wait his reply. 

At last she obtained the passports, left England early 
in August, landed at Calais, and preserving the strictest 
incognito, pursued her journey with her son under the 
name of the Baroness of Arenemberg. She avoided 
Paris in conformity with the route that had been traced 
out for her, but did not fail to visit the tomb of her 
mother, Josephine, at Ruel. 

On his return to Switzerland, Louis N^apoleon received 
a secret deputation of Poles sent from Warsaw, propos- 
ing to put him at the head of their nation, then in arms. 
The letter of the Polish leaders was as pressing as it tvas 
honorable. " To whom," it said, " can the direction of 
our enterprise be better intrusted than to the nephew 
of the greatest captain of all ages ? A young Bonaparte 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 55 

appearing in our country, tricolor in hand, would pro- 
duce a moral effect of incalculable consequences. Come, 
then, young hero, hope of our country; trust to the 
waves, that already know your name, the fortunes of 
Caesar, and what is more, the destinies of liberty. You 
will gain the gratitude of your brethren in arms and the 
admiration of the world.'* 

This letter was dated August 28, 1831, and signed by 
General Kniazewicz, Count Plater, and others. Louis 
Napoleon was then twenty-three years old — the age when 
the soul loves adventure ; and certainly the glory of re- 
establishing the throne of the Jagellons, or, at least, re- 
storing an independent Poland, was inducement enough 
to tempt a young man that felt the blood of Napoleon 
Btir in his veins. Without reflection, and in a moment 
of enthusiasm, he decided on starting immediately for 
Poland. His thoughtful, absent air excited his mother's 
alarm, and, suspecting what was passing in his mind, 
she employed every means to keep him at home. But 
he had already quitted her without even taking his fare- 
well, when suddenly the disastrous news of the capture 
of Warsaw, on the 7th of September, restored him once 
more to her arms. 

The following year, 1832, July 22, the Duke of 
Beichstadt, son of the emperor, Ex-King of Rome, aged 
twenty-one years and four months, died at Schocnbrun, 
near Vienna. This premature death was a real calamity 
for patriotic France, and particularly for the unhappy 
family of Napoleon. It was a terrible competitor the 
less for the royalty of July, and Austria lost an instru- 
ment always redoubtable in her hands to the dynasty of 
the Bourbons. 

Thenceforward the uneasy eyes of the Holy Alliance 



56 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

■were directed towards Switzerland. It was indeed only 
to be expected tliat (inscribed the first on the great 
book of the imperial dynasty^ and recognized as the 
direct heir* of the political fortune of the emperor) 
Louis Napoleon should, after the King of Romej attract 
the surveillance of European absolutism. It appears 
that, immediately after the death of the Duke of Reich- 
stadt, several diplomatic agents were sent to Thurgovia 
to sound the dispositions of the prince and watch his 
projects. In particular, a secretary of the French em- 
bassy in London, a confidential agent of Talleyrand, 
established himself, for some time, in the neighborhood 
of the prince and his mother, to have an eye on his 
movements. 

But the calm and reserved conduct of the nephew of 
the great emperor bafiied -the intriguers, and without 
troubling himself much about the political espionage, of 
which he was the object, he surrendered himself with 
new ardor to the prosecution of the most severe studies. 

His purse was constantly open to unfortunate patriots ; 
all the wandering wrecks of Poland that passed through 
Constance were sheltered at his expense, and departed 
blessing his generosity. To organize a lottery in their 
favor, he sent the Polish committee, at Berne, a casket 
really of inestimable value, as, independently of its 
beauty, it had belonged to the emperor. 

The committee thus expressed their gratitude : " We 
should have been very happy, if, according to the im- 
pulses of our heart, we could preserve, as a sacred me- 

* Louis Napoleon is the son of Lonis, v/lio was only the fourth, of the 
brothers ; but Joseph having left no male heirs, and Lucien's being ex- 
cluded from the succession, (as he had fallen into disgrace at the time,) 
after the death of the King of E.ome, the present Emperor of France is 
the direct heir of Napoleon, according to the testament of the latter, and 
the articles of the plebiscite already alluded to. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. ' 57 

morialj an article that once belonged to tlie great man, 
whose death the Poles the more deeply deplore^, as they are 
persuaded that, had he been living, their nation would 
not have been condemned to such horrible punishments, 
and their children to a long and mournful exile. 

'^Five hundred Polish refugees, grateful for his gen- 
erous solicitude, have the honor to present their senti- 
ments of the most profound respect to the illustrious 
descendant of the Emperor Napoleon, August 6, 1833." 

At this same period the prince had another opportunity 
of displaying his generosity. A company had been 
formed in Paris, of which Lafayette was president, to 
collect works of art to be disposed of by lottery — the 
profits to be devoted to the benefit of political prisoners, 
and of journalists condemned to heavy fines. The 
Count de Survilliers (Joseph*Bonaparte) sent from Lon- 
don a cross of honor which had belonged to Napoleon, 
and Prince Louis Napoleon a Damascus sabre, having 
the emblems of the consulate and the empire engraved 
together on the blade. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



Louis Napoleon an Author. — His " Reveries PolitiquesJ* — 
" Gonsiderations sur la Suisse." — Refuses the Offer of the 
Crown of Portugal with the Hand of Donna Maria. — His 
" Manuel d'Artillerie." — Life at Arenemherg. 

Erance having closed her gates against him, every 
other career being interdicted, and his active mind 
imperiously demanding employment, Louis Napoleon 



58 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

thought of becoming a writer. Thoiigli hut twenty- 
four years old, the peculiar incidents of his life, acting 
upon a mind naturally disposed to thought, had matured 
his understanding, whilst his judgment had been power- 
fully strengthened by the rigorous course of studies to 
which from his childhood he had been devoted. His 
first work, " Reveries Politiques/' appeared in 1832, 
and at once revealed a grasp of thought, a capacity of 
generalization, that took every one, fi lends as well as 
enemies, by surprise. 

We will take the liberty of presenting the reader 
with a few extracts from this work. A desire to know 
the early principles entertained by a man who is at 
present in possession of so much power to put them into 
execution, is only natural curiosity. 

In this manner the young thinker characterizes the 
different forms of government that succeeded each other 
in France : '^ Thus it was the nature of the republic to 
establish the reign of equality and liberty, and the pas- 
sions that set it in motion were love of country, and the 
extermination of its enemies. It was the nature of the 
empire to consolidate a throne on the principles of the 
revolution, to heal up the wounds of France, to regen- 
erate the people ; its passions were love of country, of 
glory, of honor. The nature of the restoration was a 
liberty tolerated for the purpose of extinguishing glory ; 
and its passions were a desire to restore the ancient priv- 
ileges, and a tendency towards despotism. The nature 
of the government of 1830 was the new birth of the 
French glories, the sovereignty of the people, the reign 
of merit ; but its passions were fear, egotism, and 
meanness." 

"Without stopping to consider if these characteristics 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 59 

are rigidly deduced, we must grant that at first sight, 
at least, they appear tolerably true. It is also easily 
seen that he regarded the imperial regime as the type 
of perfection. 

'^A day will come," he adds, " when virtue shall 
triumph over intrigue, when merit shall have more 
power than prejudices, when glory shall crown liberty. 
I think this can only be accomplished by uniting the 
two popular causes — that of Napoleon II. and that of 
the people. The son of the great man is the representa- 
tive of the greatest glory, as the republic is that of the 
greatest liberty." 

It is hardly necessary to say that this allusion was 
made to the Duke of Reichstadt, who was then, appar- 
ently, enjoying excellent hea,lth in Austria. It was 
easily understood in France, where, if the young duke 
had made his appearance before the people had acqui- 
esced in the accession of the house of Orleans, his ele- 
vation to the throne could not be doubted for a moment. 
"With the name of Napoleon," he continued, "people 
shall never dread the return of terror ; with the name 
of the republic, the return of absolute power. French- 
men, let us be just. Let us be grateful to him who, 
springing from the ranks of the people, did every thing 
for its prosperity ; who difi'used the intelligence and. 
assured the independence of his country. If one day 
the people are free, it is to Napoleon they shall owe it. 
He accustomed them to virtue, the only solid basis of a 
republic. Do not reproach him for his dictatorship — 
his despotism, if you will ; he was leading us to liberty, 
as the ploughshare cuts the furrows to prepare the fer- 
tility of the soil. Equality before the laws, the supe- 
riority of merit, prosperity of commerce and industry. 



60 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

the emancipation of nations, — to tliese grand consumma- 
tions lie was leading us at full step. The misfortune of 
Napoleon's reign is, to have gathered what it had sown, 
and to have delivered France without having been able 
to maintain her liberty." Elsewhere he says, — 

" The more intelligence is displayed in a country, and 
the more numerous are the men who are capable of com- 
manding others, the more republican should be the insti- 
tutions ; we are marching then, at great strides, to the 
reign of capacity.''^ 

" The first wants of a country are, independence, lib- 
erty, stability, the supremacy of merit, and comfort gen- 
erally diffused. The best government is that where 
every abuse of power can always be corrected ; where, 
without social disorder, without effusion of blood, both 
the laws and the head of the government can be changed ; 
for one generation cannot bind future generations to its 
laws." 

In his scheme of a constitution, we shall soon see 
how he thought this could be effected. 

" To secure independence, the government must be 
strong, and in order to be strong, it must possess the 
confidence of the people, so that it may have a numerous 
and well-disciplined army, without continually hearing 
outcries against tyranny — that it can see the whole 
nation armed, without a fear of itself being thereby 
overthrown. 

*^ To be free, which is only one consequence of inde- 
pendence, the whole people, without distinction, must 
concur in the election of the representatives of the na- 
tion : it is necessary that the masses, who can never be 
corrupted, who never flatter or dissimulate, be the con- 
stant source whence all power emanates. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 61 

^^ In order that a sense of ease may be spread tlirongb. 
all classes, it is necessary, not only that the taxes should 
be diminished, but also that the government have an as- 
pect of stability, which may tranquillize the citizens, and 
permit them to rely on the future. 

" The government will be stable when the institutions 
are not exclusive ; that is to say, when, favoring no 
classes, tolerant for all, they are completely in harmony 
with the wants and desires of the majority of the nation. 
Then merit shall be the only passport to advancement, 
and services rendered to the country the only object of 
public rewards." 

If the man has not lost, by this time, all recollection 
of the noble principles which he entertained and ex- 
pressed so well twenty years ago, France cannot have 
much to complain of on the score of liberty. 

" In accordance with the opinions which I advance," 
he continues, " it is easily seen that my principles are 
entirely republican. What is more enchanting than to 
dream of the empire of virtue, the develo]3ment of our 
faculties, the progress of civilization ? If, in my project 
of a constitution, I prefer a monarchy, it is because I 
think such a form of government best suited to France, 
as affording most guarantees for tranquillity, strength, 
and liberty. 

" If the Ehine were an ocean," he adds, " if virtue 
were always the sole mover, if merit alone arrived at 
power, then, indeed, I would wish for a pure and simple 
republic ; but surrounded as we are by enemies, who 
have at their orders millions of soldiers at any moment 
capable of renewing the irruption of the barbarians, I 
believe that the republic could not repel foreign invasion, 
6 



62 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

and at the same time suppress civil commotions, witliont 
having recourse to means injurious to liberty. 

" As to virtue and merit, we see often that in a repub- 
lic they can only attain a certain degree of eminence : 
either ambition corrupts them or jealousy destroys them. 
Transcendent intellects are often set aside, from the very 
distrust which they inspire ; and intrigue often triumphs 
over the genius which might adorn the country. I 
would have a government which should possess all the 
advantages of a republic without its inconveniences ; in 
a word, a government which would be strong without 
despotism, free without anarchy, and independent with- 
out conquests." 

These reflections are followed by the project of a con- 
stitution, where we can discover, even at this early period, 
the fundamental principles of that of January 14, 1853. 
The only remarkable differences we can see between the 
two may be traced to the change wrought upon the 
sentiments of the author by the events through which 
he had passed. In 1832 it was the theorist preparing 
his work: in 1852 it was the man of experience putting 
his elaborated theory into execution. 

In the project of 1832, the three powers of the state 
were to be the people, the legislative body, and the em- 
peror. The people had the power of the election and 
sanction, the legislative body of deliberation, and the 
emperor of execution. 

According to the author of " Reveries Politiques,^' 
harmony between the government and the governed can 
exist only in one of two ways — when the people allow 
themselves to be ruled according to the will of one, or 
when one rales according to the will of all. In the 
former case it is despotism ; in the latter, liberty. The 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 63 

tranquillity of tlie one is tlie silence of the tomb ; the 
tranquillity of the other is the serenity of a clear sky. 

For the rest^ this projected constitution had universal 
suffrage as its basis. "A declaration of the rights of 
man, mostly taken from that of 1T89, sanctioned the 
grand principles then proclaimed and acknowledged. 
The legislative function "was delegated to two assemblies 
— the Tribunate and the Senate. The members of the 
Tribunate, appointed for a certain time, and those of the 
Senj^te, for life, were to be freely chosen by the people. 
The judiciary power was confided to judges elected by 
the people. The imperial dignity was hereditary ; how- 
ever, the accession of the emperor to the throne should 
be sanctioned by the people ; and if the son, or nearest 
relation of the last emperor, were not agreeable to the 
nation, the two chambers proposed a new emperor, and 
their nomination was given to the people for their 
sanction. 

Such was, in substance, the outline of this constitution. 
We see that, at least, it was inspired by liberal senti- 
ments ; and certainly it was not inferior to others in 
pointing out the means of securing internal order by 
strengthening authority. 

The second important publication of Louis Napoleon 
had for its title ^^ Considerations PoUiiques et Militaires 
sur la Suisse." 

The authors of the '' Biogra/phie des Hommes du 
Jour''' express themxselves regarding this work — *^This 
book announced great talents as a thinker and writer. 
It caused a great sensation both in the diplomatic and 
military worlds. In one portion of the work, all the 
constitutions of the different cantons were examined, 
described, and analyzed with a sagacity quite surprising 



64 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

in SO young an author. It sliowed tlie compreliensive 
glance and tlie enlightened reason of tlie already ripe 
statesman. Lofty views abounded in it. Switzerland 
was particularly struck ; she apf)lauded it with warmth, 
for she saw in this little book the elements of a better 
republican organization for the future. In another por- 
tion the military question was treated in an extended 
and scientific manner. "The prince pointed out a line 
of defence which, if adopted by the Helvetic Diet, 
would render the republic almost inaccessible to the 
hostilities of the absolute powers. This part of the 
•work reminds us of Bonaparte's famous chapter on the 
defensive system of Italy. Kindred can exist in the 
soul as well as in the blood." 

These remarks give us a sufficient idea of the work. 
Extracts would have no interest for the general reader. 
We can see, however, that it proved the profound 
nature of his studies and the penetrating depth of his 
views. 

It was spoken of in one of the sittings of the Hel- 
vetic Diet as a remarkable work. Some time after, the 
members unanimously decreed to the author the honor- 
able title of citizen of the Swiss republic. This dis- 
tinction, not necessarily conferring naturalization, and 
no injury therefore to his rights as a French citizen, he 
accepted with pleasure. Such a mark of esteem had 
already been presented to two great political personages 
— Marshal Ney, at the time of the act of mediation, 
and Prince Metternich, who had received it from the 
aristocracy of Berne, acting under the influence of the 
events of 1815. As a new mark of esteem and confi- 
dence, in June, 1834, Louis Napoleon was appointed 
captain of artillery in the Berne regiment. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 65 

He disdained no kind of distinction. Every year tlie 
canton of Berne summoned to solemn festivals^ as in 
ancient times, the ablest marksmen of all Switzerland, 
to display their skill. The prince was always invited, 
and often bore away flags and wreaths, the prizes of the 
conqueror, amid the acclamations of the assembly. 

There was no kind of gymnastic exercise in which he 
did not also distinguish himself at this time. He ex- 
celled in horsemanship ; he often swam across the Lake 
of Constance ; he displayed great personal strength in 
the management of arms and in spear combats after the 
Polish manner. This was the result of his thoroughly 
Spartan education. 

Switzerland was not the only nation that appreciated 
his merits. After the triumph of the constitutional 
cause in Portugal had raised Donna Maria to the throne, 
the principal men of that country proposed to Louis 
Napoleon the idea of uniting himself by marriage to 
the young queen, and thus of enjoying the honor of 
directing the destinies of an independent nation. But 
the prince declined this offer for two highly honorable 
reasons. First, he would not accept of any elevation 
which might separate his fate and his interests from the 
fate and the interests of Prance ; secondly, he was fully 
resolved to avoid all rivalry with his cousin, the young 
Duke of Leuchtenberg, son of Prince Eugene, on whom 
another party had already cast their eyes, and who, in 
fact, espoused the queen shortly after. 

But the duke soon dying, the same proposals were 
again made to the prince with greater earnestness than 
ever. Again he refused. In December, 1835, the 
following letter on this subject appeared in the public 
press : — = 

6* 



66 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

^^ Several journals have published the intelligence of 
my departure for Portugal, as a pretender to the hand 
of Queen Donna Maria. However flattering for me 
may be the idea of a union with a young queen, beau- 
tiful and virtuous, widow of a cousin whom I tenderly 
loved, still it is my duty to refute such a report, as no 
step of mine, that I am aware of, could have furnished 
any grounds for announcing it. 

" I may even add that, notwithstanding the strong 
interest attached to the destinies of a people who have 
just recovered their independence, I would refuse the 
honor of sharing the throne of Portugal, if by any 
chance I should be offered such an exalted position. 

^^ The noble conduct of my father, who abdicated in. 
1810, because he could not reconcile the interests of 
Prance with those of Holland^ has not escaped my rec- 
ollection. 

" My father has proved to me, by his own example, 
how much to be preferred my country is to a seat on a 
foreign throne. I feel, in effect, that, habituated from 
my childhood to love my country above all things, I can 
prefer nothing . to the interests of Prance. Convinced 
that the great name which I bear will not be always re- 
garded by my countrymen as a ground for exclusion, 
reminding them as it does of fifteen years of glory, I 
wait calmly, in a free and hospitable country, until the 
people recall those exiles that were banished in 1815 by 
twelve hundred thousand foreigners. This hope of one 
day serving Prance, as a citizen and as a soldier, strength- 
ens and consoles me in my retirement, and, in my eyes, 
is worth all the thrones in the world." 

Towards the end of the year 1835, the prince pub- 
lished his " Manual of Artillery, for the Use of the Ar- 
tillery Officers of the Helvetic Eepublic." 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 67 

Not supposing that our readers generally are military 
enough, to bestow much interest on a detailed account 
of the contents of this book, we will present a few ex- 
tracts, taken from a review of the work which appeared 
in the Spectateur Militaire of March, 1836. 

'^ The author has told us every thing worth knowing 
regarding artillery, whether field, siege, or stationary. 
He has laid under contribution many of the best docu- 
ments for the instruction of our troops and the service 
of our establishments, so that this Manual must come to 
be highly esteemed and much sought after by French 
officers. The author shows himself intimately acquaint- 
ed with all remarkable innovations, with all important 
improvements, particularly those adopted by foreign 
powers, often so little known in France, and about which 
we are so curious : in a word, science has, as much as 
possible, been brought doivn to the present day. 

" The work opens, by way of introduction, with an 
historical relation of the invention and progress of ar- 
tillery to the present time. The plan of the work is 
well conceived : it may be considered as divided into 
three parts, of which the first treats of field artillery ; 
the second, of siege and stationary artillery ; and the 
third, of the manufactories and constructions directly 
springing from the use of artillery. 

" Having made us acquainted with the personal and 
material organization of the Helvetic Confederation, the 
author gives rules for manoeuvring the pieces on the 
field of battle ; and the little treatise on the service and 
management of the artillery on the march and in action 
is one of the most remarkable chapters in the book. It 
is followed by that part of the science known under the 
name of ^ Theory for the elevation and pointing of guns.' 



68 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

The author shows himself clear and exact ; he sums up 
very explicitly all that has been^ so far^ admitted regard- 
ing initial velocities. 

" The first part closes with a collection of correct and 
very valuable tables. 

'' In what we call the second part, the author has for- 
tification in view, and treats of the employment of ar- 
tillery in the attack and defence of fortified places. It 
also contains a short treatise on temporary fortification, 
very well written." 

We will pass over the analysis of the third part, which 
treats of the manufacture of gunpowder, the casting of 
cannon, &c., and will close those unconnected extracts 
by the concluding remarks of the able reviewer. ^^ In 
looking over this book, it is impossible not to be struck 
with the laborious industry of which it is the fruit. Of 
this we can get an idea by the list of authors, French, 
German, and English, that he has consulted ; and this 
list is no vain catalogue. We can find in the text the 
ideas, and often the very expressions, of the authorities 
which he has quoted. When we consider how much 
study and perseverance must have been employed to 
succeed in producing only the literary part (for even the 
illustrations scattered through the work are from the 
author's own designs) of a book that requires such pro- 
found and varied attainments, and when we remember 
that this author was born on the steps of a throne, we 
cannot help being seized with admiration for the man 
who thus bravely meets the shock of adversity." 

The author of '^ Letters from London," speaking of 
Louis ISFapoleon's mode of life at Arenemberg, has the 
following passage : — 

^' From his tenderest youth he despised the habits of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL" ^81 

an effeminate life. Altliougli liis motlier allowed Hm a 
considerable sum for his amusements, these were the 
last things he thought of. All this money was spent in 
acts of beneficence, in founding schools or houses of 
refuge, extending the circle of his studies, in printing 
his military or political works, or in making scientific 
experiments. His mode of life was always frugal and 
rather rude. At Arenemberg it was quite military. 
His room, situated not in the castle, but in a small pa- 
vilion beside it, offered none of the grandeur or elegance 
so prevalent in Hortense's apartments. It was, in truth, 
a regular soldier's tent. Neither carpet nor arm chair 
appeared there ; nothing that could indulge the body ; 
nothing but books of science, and arms of all kinds. 
As for himself, he was on horseback at break of day, 
and before any one had risen in the castle, had ridden 
several leagues ; he then w^ent to work in his cabinet. 
Accustomed to military exercises, as good a rider as could 
be seen, he never let a day pass without devoting some 
hours to sword and lance practice, and the use of infan- 
try arms, which he managed with extraordinary rapidity 
and address." 

Thus the young prince continued for some time to 
alleviate, by active physical training, study, and useful 
publications, the weary monotony of an exile to which 
his name alone had condemned him. But his own name, 
known at most to military litterateurs and political spec- 
ulators, swallowed up in the vortex of a thousand other 
questions, seemed to be unknown to the minds of the 
masses, when suddenly a startling event, the affair of 
Strasburg, rendered it in a moment familiar to the lips 
of the world. 

This, as the novelists say, deserves a chapter for itself. 



70 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

CHAPTER V. 

Napoleonic Reaction. — Country restless under Louis Philippe, 
— Louis Napoleon persuaded hy Partisans that his Time is 
cotne. — Opinions entertained of the Prince at the Period. — 
Chateaubriand. — Lafayette. — Arma7id Carrel. — Per- 
sonal Appearance. — Decides on mahing an Attempt at 
Strashurg. — His Letter on the Subject. — Failure. — Uni- 
versal Ridicule. — Extract from a German Newspaper of 
the Time. — Louis Napoleon imprisoned and exiled. — His 
Accomplices tried and acquitted. 

These clifFerent publications, announced in tlie papers^ 
spread over Trance, necessarily induced reflecting men 
to bestow some thought on the author, the nepheiY of 
the emperor, that v/onderful man whose glory seemed 
to multiply day by day in the hearts of the nation. 

The government of LduIs Philippe well understood 
that the way to render itself popular was to cherish the 
recollections of the empire. The statue of the emperor 
had been restored to the summit of the pillar in the 
Place Yendome, and active measures had been taken to 
complete the erection of the triumphal Arc de I'Etoile, 
with all its sculptured military glories of the imperial 
era. The throne of July thought by thus acting to sur- 
round itself with a dazzling aureola for its own proper 
interest ; but the sentiment, so powerfully awakened, in- 
spired Louis Napoleon's partisans also with the idea of 
attempting some decisive enterprise, and they soon in- 
volved the prince in the hazardous essay of a plot 
against the government of Louis Philippe. 

Circumstances seemed favorable. For the last twenty 
years the tale of the wonderful actions of Napoleon had 
been heating the imaginations^ especially of the younger 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL Tl 

generation ; and tlie jSTapoleonic sentiment, as has been 
just said, was only intensified by the efforts of the gov- 
ernment of July to draw on itself a ray of the glorious 
era. On the other hand, the opposition had become 
more bitter than ever in denouncing what was called the 
ambiguous and anti-French policy of the throne. The 
disturbances at Paris and in the provinces, and the dis- 
banding of the National Guards at Lyons, Strasburg, 
Grenoble, -and elsewhere, revealed a very discontented 
state of society. In short, every thing conspired to 
make the friends of Louis Napoleon confident that at 
the first signal the people would rise to a man, and 
enthusiastically rally round the lamented standards of 
the empire. We readily believe what we desire to be 
true. Sufficient preparations, or what seemed so, were 
not long in being taken, and the shell soon burst. 

Before entering into the details of what was after- 
wards called the " mad affair of Strasburg," it may not 
be uninteresting to try what was personally thought of 
Louis Napoleon about this time. Chateaubriand had 
seen him in Switzerland in 1832, and with what interest 
this profound genius continued to regard him we may 
judge from the following extract from a letter written at 
Lucerne. 

" Prince, you know that my young king is in Scot- 
land, and that as long as he lives I can consider none 
else king of France. But if God, in his impenetrable 
designs, had rejected the race of St. Louis ; if our coun- 
try should think proper to amend a choice which she 
has not sanctioned^ and if our customs did not render 
a republican condition impossible, — then, prince, there is 
no name to harmonize better with the glory of France 
than yours." 



72 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

In 1833 Lafayette, at an interviev/ wliich he had 
asked of the prince, testified his regret for having op- 
posed the emperor in 1815,- and especially for having 
established the government of July. He besought him 
earnestly to seize the first occasion to return to France. 
" For/' said he, 'Uhe government cannot maintain itself; 
your name is the only popular one." In short, he prom- 
ised to assist him with all the means in his power when 
the moment arrived. 

Armand Carrel, the fam_ous editor of the National, 
said, " The political and military works of Louis Napo- 
leon Bonaparte announce a deep intellect and a noble 
disposition. The name which he bears is the greatest 
of modern times, and the only one which can excite the 
sympathies of the French people. He is called to play 
a great part." 

The prince was then a young man of twenty-eight 
The author of '^ Letters from London" has thus sketched 
his portrait : — 

'^He is middle-sized, of an agreeable countenance, 
and has a military air. To personal advantages he joins 
the more seductive distinction of manners, simple, natu- 
ral, and full of good taste and ease. At first sight I was 
struck with his resemblance to Prince Eugene and the 
Empress Josephine, his grandmother ; but I did not re- 
mark a like resemblance to the emperor. It is true that 
his face, having neither the oval shape, nor the full 
cheeks, nor the bilious complexion of his uncle's coun- 
tenance, the general appearance is without some of those 
peculiarities which we remark in the^ head of the em- 
peror, and which never fail to im'^art to the poorest por- 
traits a certain resemblance to the original. His mus- 
taches, besides, and the imperial on his chin, impress his 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 73 

countenance with a character too decidedly military not 
to injure liis resemblance to his uncle. But by atten- 
tively observing the essential features^, that is, those not 
depending on more or less fulness, or on more or less 
beardj we will soon discover that the Napoleonic type is 
reproduced with astonishing fidelity. It is, in fact, the 
same lofty forehead, broad and straight, the same nose, 
of fine proportions, the same gray eyes, though the ex- 
pression is milder ; it is particularly the same contour 
and inclination of the head ; the latter especially, when 
the prince turns, is so full of the Napoleon air as to 
make a soldier of the old guard thrill at the sight ; and 
if the eye rests on the outline of these forms so correct, 
it is impossible not to be struck, as if before the head of 
the emperor, with the imposing grandeur of the Roman 
profile, of which the lines so defined, so grave> I will 
even add, and so solemn, are, as it were, the seal of 
great destinies. 

" The distinguishing expression of the features of the 
young prince is that of nobleness and gravity ; and yet 
far from being harsh, his countenance, on the contrary, 
breathes a sentiment of mildness and benevolence. It 
seems that the maternal type, which is preserved in the 
lower part of his face, has come to correct the rigid- 
ity of the imperial lines, as the blood of the Beauhar- 
nois seems to have tempered in him the southern vio- 
lence of the Napoleon blood. 

" But what excites the greatest interest is, that inde- 
finable tinge of melancholy and thoughtf nines s, observa- 
ble in the shghtest movement, and revealing the noble 
sufierings of exile. 

^' But after this portrait you must not figure to your- 
self one of those elegant young men, those Adonises of 
7 



74 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III, 

romance^ tliat excite tlie admiration of the drawing- 
room. Nothing of effeminacy in the young Napoleon. 
The dark shadows of his countenance indicate an ener- 
getic nature ; his assured look^ his glance^ at once quick 
and thoughtful, every thing about him, points out one 
of those exceptional natures, one of those great souls^ 
that live by meditating on great things, and that alone 
are capable of accomplishing them." 

In July, 1836, the prince repaired to Baden, in order 
to learn the opinion of the country by a closer proximity 
to France. Here he received the visits of several offi- 
cers belonging to the regiments then garrisoned in Al- 
sace and Lorraine. Among these he found one in par- 
ticular, who seemed to unite all the conditions necessary 
for the accomplishment of the projects which he medi- 
tated. This was Colonel Vaudrey, of the fourth regi- 
ment of artillery, and at the time commanding all the 
artillery at Strasburg, To him Louis Napoleon ex- 
plained his intentions in the following terms :— 

" A revolution is excusable — is legitimate — only 
when it takes place for the benefit of the nation. Now^ 
ours should be so, for we use only moral influence to 
render it successful. If the Napoleon cause has left 
sufficiently deep recollections in the heart of the French, 
I will only have to show myself to the soldiers and to 
the people, and to remind them of their recent grievances 
and their past glory, to induce them to range themselves 
around my flag. I do not wish to conspire, in the usual 
meaning of the word ; for the men on whom I rely are 
not bound to me by oaths, but by a closer and stronger 
tie — mutual sympathy for every thing that concerns the 
happiness and glory of the French people. If I succeed 
in exciting one regiment, if soldiers who do not know 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 75 

me kindle at the sight of the imperial eagle, then all the 
chances shall be in my favor ; my cause will be morally 
triumphant, even if secondary obstacles should over- 
throw it. France is democratic, but she is not repub- 
lican. By democracy I mean the government of an 
individual, according to the wishes of all, and by re- 
publicanism, the government of many, according and in 
obedience to a system. France wants national institu- 
tions, as representing her rights ; a name or a family, as 
representing her interests. That is to say, she wants the 
popular principles of the republic, together with the sta- 
bility of the empire ; her national dignity, her internal 
order and prosperity, without her conquests. She might 
envy the restoration its foreign alliances, but of what 
feature in the present government can she approve ? 

" My intention is to come with a banner, the most 
popular, the most glorious of all ; to use as a rallying 
point every thing generous and national in all parties ; 
to restore to France her dignity, without universal war ; 
her liberty, without licentiousness ; her stability, with- 
out despotism ; and to succeed in such a result, what 
must be done ? To draw all our strength and all our 
hopes from the masses ; for the masses belong to reason 
and justice." Vaudrey promised to second the daring 
project with all his influence. 

The plan decided upon by the prince was, to appear 
suddenly in some considerable fortress, to rally the peo- 
ple and the garrison around him by the prestige of the 
name of Napoleon, and to hasten in forced marches to 
Paris, on the route inducing the troops and the National 
Guards to accompany him. Strasburg was the spot se- 
lected for the execution of this project. 

The following version of the affair is altogether 



76 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

founded on the facts tliat were elicited during the subse- 
quent trials. 

At six o'clock in the morning of October 30, 1836, 
Louis Napoleon suddenly made his appearance in Stras- 
burg. Assisted by his friend Parquin, commander of 
the gens d'armes, and by Colonel Yaudrey of the fourth 
regiment of artillery, then in garrison at Strasburg, the 
prince made an attempt to rally the soldiers of the place 
around him. A part of the officers and the soldiers of 
Vaudrey's regiment responded to his call. 

Some of these, led by the Count de Gricourt, ran to 
the City Hall, and entered it without difficulty. The 
prefect of the city was still in bed, but they soon forced 
their way to his chamber. Fearing the motive of the 
disturbance, this functionary spent more than half an 
hour dressing, hoping to gain time and afford the pub- 
lic authorities an opportunity of coming to his deliver- 
ance. To the menaces of the soldiers he replied with 
the utmost coolness and repeated protestations against 
the folly of their insurrection. At last he had to yield 
to force, and was led to the Quarter Austerlitz, where 
he was immediately confined. 

In the mean time the other insurgents proceeded to 
the residence of General Voirol, commander of the mil- 
itary division. He had hardly time to dress before they 
were in his presence. Louis Napoleon advanced as if 
to embrace him. " Leave me," cried the general ; "I. 
do not recognize you." And he represented to the 
party the guilt of their conduct. " O, come, general," 
said the prince ; " you, who have known the emperor, and 
have served under his orders, cannot think of repelling 
me. Consider, France expects me with impatience." 

*^ Monsieur, you are strangely abused if you are told 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 77 

SO," replied the general, in a severe tone. Then turn- 
ing to Colonel Vaudrey, he expressed his sorrowful sur- 
prise at seeing him engaged in such an enterprise. 

" Your conduct," he added, ^^ shows great ingratitude 
towards me. I had so much confidence in you, and al- 
ways regarded you with affection." 

" You do me injustice, general," replied Colonel 
Vaudrey, " It is precisely my affection for your person 
which has determined me to this step. I wish to save 
you. Know that the whole garrison is engaged in the 
insurrection, and that all resistance on your part is use- 
less, and would only destroy you." 

" Not at all," exclaimed the general ; " you shall not 
deceive me by such assurances : the garrison will do its 
duty, I am confident, and you shall soon be convinced 
of your isolation." 

The prince, finding him so impracticable, left him in. 
charge of a file of soldiers, and withdrew. Shortly after, 
three officers of artillery and one of the staff succeeded 
in making their way to the general, who, with their as- 
sistance, after a short struggle, freed himself from the 
throng, and proceeded to the City Hall. He immediate- 
ly ordered the drawbridge of the citadel raised, to cut 
off communication with the city. He soon retired to the 
citadel himself, for there the sixteenth regiment of the 
line was quartered, on which he thought he could rely. 

In fact, the soldiers of this regiment had made part 
of the camp of Compiegne ; they had seen the princes 
of the reigning family, and this recollection, perhaps, 
kindling their enthusiasm, they received the commander 
with loud shouts of " Viv^ le roi .' " — Long live the king ! 
This enthusiasm communicating itself, like electricity, 
through all the garrison, gained over the cannoneers of 
7* 



't8 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

tlie fourth, artillery, whom surprise had thrown into a 
momentary irresolution. 

Meanwhile the prince, escorted by the little troop 
which Colonel Vaudrey had secured him, leaving the 
general's residence, had hastened through the principal 
streets of the city, amid loud cries of ^^Vive Napoleon ! " 
and repaired to the barracks, Finckmatt, the quarters of 
the forty-sixth of the line. By an untoward circumstance 
the troops separated on the route, and in the confusion 
the greater part lost their way. The prince, followed 
by some officers and about four hundred men, entered 
the barrack yard, where he expected to find the regiment 
under arms. They had not left their rooms yet, how- 
ever, though attracted by the tumult ; and hearing the 
name of Napoleon pronounced, they soon collected in 
great numbers, thronged around the prince, and shouted 
" Vive Napoleon ! Vive VEmpereur ! " with as much, 
enthusiasm as their companions had just displayed at the 
barrack of Austerlitz. 

In the mean time. Lieutenant Laity, of the battalion 
of the pontoneers, had announced the matter to his sol- 
diers, and was now marching at their head to join the 
prince ; Lieutenant Schuller had arrested a brigadier gen- 
eral, and the colonel of the third artillery ; M. Lombart 
was getting the proclamations printed and distributed ; 
Lieutenant Pietri had made himself master of the tele- 
graph, and the third regiment of artillery had taken arms, 
and was marching to the spot, having at its head a great 
number of officers. 

In a word, affairs had assumed a very favorable aspect ; 
a moment longer and he would have found himself mas- 
ter of five thousand men. But in a moment all was 
changed. Colonel Taillandier arrives. He is told the 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 79 

nephew of the emperor is present with the fourth regi- 
ment of artillery ; but he cannot believe such an ex- 
traordinary story. " Soldiers," he cries, *' you are de- 
ceived : the man that excites your enthusiasm can be 
only an adventurer, an impostor." A staff officer ex- 
claims at the same time, *^ That is not the emperor's 
nephew ; he is Colonel Yaudrey's ; I know him." 
Many of the soldiers, believing themselves the dupes of 
an unworthy artifice, become furious. Colonel Taillan- 
dier acts on the crisis, collects the soldiers, orders the gates 
to be closed and the charge to be beaten. The partisans 
of the prince, on their side, tiy to collect the soldiers that 
have joined them ; but all the regiments are mixed up — > 
the officers can do nothing — all wear the same uniform. 
No one strikes a blow — he may kill a friend. A word 
from the prince or from the colonel would be enough to 
give the signal for the frightful massacre. Such a word 
is not given, and Louis Napoleon is soon led away, a 
prisoner, together with the officers who had assisted him 
in the enterprise. 

The commander, Voirol, having made sure of the sen- 
timents of the sixteenth of the line, as we have seen, put 
himself at its head, and returned to the city, to awe the 
factions by an imposing demonstration. He intended to 
go to the barracks where the prefect had been confined ; 
but this magistrate had been already released, and the 
conspirators arrested. The whole affair hardly lasted an 
hour. The citizens of Strasburg viewed it all with 
perfect indifference, and the public tranquillity was 
scarcely disturbed. The following proclamation had 
been scattered in great quantities through the city : — 

" In 1830, a government was imposed on France, 
without consulting either the people of Paris, or the 
people of the provinces, or the army. 



80 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

" Frenclimeii ! all that has been done without yonr 
concurrence is illegitimate. 

" A national congress, elected by all the citizens, can 
alone have the right of choosing what is most suitable 
for France. 

'^ Paris, in 1830, taught us how to overthrow a tyran- 
nical government ; let us teach Paris how to consolidate 
the liberties of a great people." 

But the good people of Strasburg, who, according to 
the French custom, had accepted the issue of the event, 
remained quite indifferent, both to the proclamation of 
the prince and to the excitement of his attempt. 

It was not so through Europe generally. The news 
excited a profound sensation. When the particulars^ 
however, became known, surprise gave place to con- 
tempt, and the newspapers were, as usual, full of sneers 
and jokes, and wise denunciations against the abortive 
attempt and its unfortunate leader. 

An extract from a German journal may not be out of 
place here. " This, then, is the great imperialist party ! 
and it has wished to try its strength ! Every body knew 
the famous saying of Metternich — ' To act Bonapartism 
without Bonaparte is folly.' Sensible people fully un- 
derstood it ; an ambitious youth did not understand it. 
He thought he could march from Strasburg to Paris, and 
in his delirious frenzy he repeated the cry of the fugitive 
from Elba, ' Let the eagle £y from tower to tower, to 
the summits of Notre Dame.' Senseless ! Where is 
the voice to command it, — this immortal eagle ? Does 
the coffin in St. Helena open to restore the great 
captain to the world." Let him^ indeed, come back, 
with his banners and his trophies, with his genius and 
his sword. Then France, perhaps, would waver, and 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL SI 

Europe, running to arms, would know what danger she 
had to anticipate. 

" But an inexperienced stripling ! A young hair- 
brain, without genius, without talent, without renown, 
without any glory to accompany him, without any title 
to decorate him, — what dees he wish ? That thirty mil- 
lions of men bow down before him ? That what was con- 
quered by the sword of his uncle should be offered to 
Mmj presented with homage, as a legitimate inheritance 
due to his political nullity, to his profound obscurity ? 
^ But I had a Napoleon in my family ! ' That is your 
only claim on a nation which has thrown whole dynas- 
ties into the balance, and which has reckoned as nothing 
all the glory accumulated from Henry IV. to Louis XIV., 
and the last of the Bourbons. Come and reign by virtue 
of a family right, because your name is Bonaparte ! In 
truth, as much as this military glory is worthy of admi- 
ration, so much is this pretended legitimacy deserving 
of our pity ! Behold it, then, this imperialist party, like 
the republicans, like the legitimists, expiring in its turn, 
dashed to pieces against the throne of July ! The mad 
affair is ended. Authority has resumed its power, and 
it is now proved that bodyguard revolutions^ despite the 
examples of Spain and Portugal, are not always certain 
of success, and may become fatal to the authors." 

This burst, however natural at the time, is curious to 
read to-day. "What a reply this unknown stripling, 
without glorious antecedents, has given to these con- 
structors of sonorous and swelling periods ! Not that 
he was not too young at the time. The experience of 
many long years was still necessary to prepare him to 
wield the sceptre of the French nation with dignity and 
ability ; but the sequel has proved that the Napoleon 



82 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

sentiment was not " dashed to pieces," as they were 
pleased to say, "against the throne of July." He is 
reproached for his obscurity. But such enterprises, cul- 
pable and foolish as he himself, when arrived at a more 
advanced age, confessed them to be, had at least one ad- 
vantage — that of drawing him forth from an obscurity 
which weighed on him like tons of lead. 

The government, as was to be expected, was exceed- 
ingly exasperated. It would have wished to try the 
prisoners by court martial ; but the law on this point 
was formal. Some of the prisoners were not military ; 
and the quality of these persons not only exempted 
themselves from all accountability to military jurisdic- 
tion, but even gave their accomplices the right of ap- 
pealing for trial before a civil tribunal. Still the gov- 
ernment was confident of the issue. " Every measure 
is taken," said one of the organs, in a very menacing 
tone, *^ to administer justice as promptly as is authorized 
by the laws, and without infringing on the rights of de- 
fence, to render every satisfaction demanded by an out- 
raged society." 

During the interrogatory to which the prince was 
subjected, he showed great calmness, and replied frankly 
to every question, only he refused to name the friends 
that he expected to find in France, affirming that he had 
decided on making the attempt chiefly because assured 
that he had only to show himself at any point on the 
frontiers, and then to march in triumph to Paris. 

After a confinement of a few days he was brought to 
the capital, where, however, he was permitted to remain 
but an hour or two, the government having determined 
to send him to America. 

To this decision it was induced by several considera- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 83 

tions. In the first place, tlie youth, and especially the 
great name of the prince, far from "outraging" society, 
excited a very general public sympathy in his favor ; then 
the government, just at that time, notwithstanding the 
recent attempt of Fieschi, felt sufficient confidence in its 
own stability to display its generosity ; Hortense's ear- 
nest solicitations for mercy towards her only remaining 
son had a powerful efiect ; and last of all, a strong prece- 
dent was pleaded in his behalf — the liberation of the 
Duchess of Berri, after her abortive insurrection in La 
Vendee. This precedent the national conscience seems 
to have sanctioned. 

The government of course pretended to ignore these 
reasons. Their ostensible grounds for mildness were 
principally the fact that the prince's previous exile, not 
brought on him by his own acts, but solely by circum- 
stances over which he had no control, had almost suffi- 
ciently punished him beforehand for his late wicked 
attempt. But such a plea could not be allowed in favor 
of the other prisoners. They had not been exiled ; they 
had duties to perform, oaths to respect ; and they should 
now bear the utmost vengeance of the offended laws. 
So, whilst Louis Napoleon was crossing the Atlantic in 
Androinede, to be landed in the United States, the accom- 
plices of his insurrection were standing their trial, and 
every effort was made to insure their conviction. 

But it seemed too great a contradiction to let the prin- 
cipal escape, and try to involve his instruments in pun- 
ishment. The following letter from the prince was read 
in the court : — 

" Despite my desire to remain with my companions in 
misfortune, and to share their fate, the king, in his clem- 
ency, has ordered me to be transported to America. I 



84 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

appreciate as I ouglit the goodness of the king ; but I 
keenly regret that I cannot appear at the bar of the tri- 
bunal to explain the steps by means of which I have led 
my friends to destruction. Certainly we are all guilty; 
but the most guilty is myself" 

The efforts of government were vain. "While the 
king's clemency in favor of Louis Napoleon was ex- 
cused, even appreciated, the inconsistent conduct of the 
ministry was denounced as vindictiveness. To the joy 
of the nation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. 

Such was the immediate issue of the affair of Stras- 
burg. Though nearly forgotten now, it created no small 
excitement at the time. It is evident, all through, that 
Louis Napoleon had been greatly imposed upon by his 
friends, when they represented — deceiving themselves, no 
doubt — France as ripe for revolt. The only excuse, if it 
be an excuse, that can be alleged in its favor, is, as was 
said before, that it served to drag him out of the terrible 
oblivion that was fast swallowing up himself and his 
family — it set his name in a conspicuous position before 
the eyes of mankind, rendering him, for a while at least, 
an object of interest to millions, who otherwise would 
have never heard of his existence — it directed the 
thoughts of the masses on his claims and antecedents ; 
and this, perhaps, was not without its effect, when at last, 
by an amount of suffrage never paralleled for its num- 
bers in the history of the world, he was elevated to the 
highest position, in one of the mightiest kingdoms of 
the earth. 

It has been without doubt remarked, that in the ac- 
count of the attempt which we have just given, very little 
is said of the prince's personal share in the transaction, 
and also that little or no enthusiasm appeared to be mani- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 85 

fested at liis appearance, except on the one occasion when 
it terminated so abruptly. But it must be recollected that 
this account is mostly based on the evidence given at the 
trial, where the prince was not regarded as accused, and 
w^here every demonstration of the people or the army in 
his favor was, as much as possible, suppressed. This 
must have greatly contributed to the general contempt 
with which the aflfair was regarded for some time ; but 
while he was sailing to America, he sent a letter to his 
mother that considerably changed the look of things. 
This letter, though it does not materially contradict our 
account, yet throws such new light on the subject, is 
written in such a clear, concise style, and withal comes 
from such an authentic source, that we have no hesita- 
tion in presenting its most important parts to our readers. 
We had at first intended to use it in making out our nar- 
rative, but soon concluded that it was interesting enough 
to stand by itself. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Louis Napoleon^s Letter to Ms Mother, regarding the Affair of 
Strashurg. — Confident in his Hopes of Success. — TJie 
Rendezvous. — Six in the Morning. — Colonel Vaudrey. — 
Address to the Fourth Artillery. — Enthusiasm. — Unsuc- 
cessful Attempt on General Voirol. — Total Failure in the 
Barracks Finckmatt. — Imprisoned and examined. — Sent to 
Paris. — Banished to America. — Letter to O Dillon Barrot, 

" Mother," he commenced, " to give you a detailed 
account of my misfortunes, is to renew your sufferings 
and my own ; and still it is at the same time a consola- 
8 



86 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tion, both for you and me, to acquaint you with the im- 
pressions which I have received, and the emotions which 
I have endured, since the end of October. You know 
under what pretext I left Arenemberg, but you do not 
know what was then passing in my heart. Firm in my 
conviction, which made me look on the Napoleon cause 
as the only national cause in France, and as the only 
civilizing cause in Europe — proud of the nobleness and 
purity of my intentions — I was fully determined to raise 
the imperial eagle, or fall a victim to my political faith. 
I set out, travelling on the same road as I had followed 
three months before, when going from Urkich to Ba- 
den : every thing was still the same around me as then, 
but how different were the emotions by which I was 
now agitated ! Then I v/as cheerful and serene as the 
summer sky ; but now, stern and thoughtful, my spirit 
seemed tinged with the gloom of the sombre October 
day. I shall be asked why I abandoned a happy life to 
run the risks of a hazardous enterprise. I will reply 
that a secret voice drew me on, and that for nothing in 
the world would I defer to a future period an attempt 
that seemed to present so many immediate chances of 
success. 

*^ And my most painful thought this moment is, that 
now, since reality has entered fancy, and in place of im- 
agining I can judge, I remain more than ever convinced 
that if I had been able to follow out the plan I had 
originally decided upon, instead of being at this moment 
under the equator, I would be in my country. Of what 
importance to me are those vulgar cries that call me fool, 
because I have not succeeded, and that would have ex- 
aggerated my merit if I had ? I take upon myself all 
the responsibility of the event, for I have acted from 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 87 

my own conviction, and not from the inducement of 
others. Alas ! if I were the only victim I would have 
little to lament. I have found in my friends a bound- 
less devotion ; and I have no reproaches to make against 
any one whomsoever. I left Lahr early on the 28th, and 
arrived at eleven at night at Strasburg, without having 
met with any untoward accident. My carriage stopped 
at the Hotel de la Fleur, while I went to pass the night 
in a little chamber which had been engaged for me in 
the E-ue Fontaine. 

'' There I saw Colonel Vaudrey, and I submitted to him 
the plan of operations which I had sketched ; but the 
colonel, whose noble and generous sentiments deserved 
a better fate, said, ' There is no question here of a con- 
flict with arms ; your cause is too French and too pure to 
pollute it by spilling French blood. There is only one 
means of acting which is worthy of you, and thereby 
you will avoid all collision. When you are at the head 
of my regiment we shall march together to General Yoi- 
rol's ; an old soldier will never resist the sight of you or of 
the imperial eagle as soon as he knows that the garrison 
is in your favor.' I approved of his reasons, and every 
thing was decided upon for the following morning. A 
house had been taken in a street in the neighborhood of 
the Quarter of Austerlitz, where we were all to meet, 
and proceed thence to those barracks as soon as the regi- 
ment of artillery was assembled. 

" That night, at eleven o'clock, one of my friends came 
to Kue de la Fontaine to bring me to the general rendez- 
vous. We traversed the whole city together ; a bright 
moon illumined the streets : I took this fine night as a 
favorable omen for next day : I attentively remarked the 
places through which I passed. The silence reigning 



88 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

around made an impression on me : by what shall this 
tranquillity be succeeded to-morrow ? 

'' ^ However/ said I to my companion^ ' there shall 
be no disorder if I succeed ; for it is especially to pre- 
vent the disorders always consequent on popular move- 
ments that I have wished to attempt the revolution by 
means of the army. But,' I added, ' what confidence, 
what a profound conviction, we must have in the justice 
of our cause, to face the dangers which we are about to 
incur ! How public opinion will tear us to pieces — will 
cover us with reproaches — if we do not succeed ! And 
yet I take God to witness that it is not to satisfy a per- 
sonal ambition, but because I believe I have a mission 
to fulfil, that I risk what is dearer to me than life — - the 
esteem of my fellow-citizens.' 

" On arriving at the house, in the Rue des Orphelins, 
I found my friends in two rooms in the basement. I 
thanked them for the devotion w^hich they manifested 
for my cause, and told them from that moment we should 
share our good or our evil fortune together. One of 
the ofiicers brought forward an eagle : it was that which 
had belonged to the seventh regiment of the line. ^ The 
Eagle of Labedoyere ! ' they exclaimed, and each of us 
pressed it to his heart with lively emotion. All the 
officers were in full uniform : I had put on the artillery 
uniform, and wore a chief officer's hat. 

" The night appeared very long. I passed it in writ- 
ing my proclamations, which I would not get printed 
beforehand for fear of indiscretion. We were to re- 
main in this house until the colonel would send me 
word to proceed to the barracks. "We counted the hours, 
the minutes, the seconds. Six was the appointed mo- 
ment. How difficult it is to express what we feel in 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III, m 

sucli circumstances ! In a second one lives more than 
in ten years ; for to live is to make use of our organs, 
our senses, our faculties, a,ll tlie parts of ourselves which 
impart the sentiment of existence ; and in these critical 
moments our faculties, our organs, our senses, exalted to 
the highest degree, are concentrated on one single point ; 
it is the hour to decide our destiny. We are morally 
strong when we can say, ^ To-morrow I shall be the 
deliverer of my country or I shall be dead.' Unhappy 
is he who is so circumstanced that he cannot be either 
the one or the other ! In spite of our precautions, the 
noise that a certain number of persons assembled togeth- 
er cannot help making, awoke the people overhead : we 
heard them get up and open the windows. But it was 
only five o'clock. We redoubled our prudence, and 
they lay down again. 

" At last it struck six. Never had the strokes of a 
clock sounded so violently in my heart ; but an instant 
after the bugle from the Quarter of Austerlitz came to 
accelerate its throbbings. The great moment was ap- 
proaching. Suddenly a noisy tumult was heard outside : 
soldiers hastened through the streets shouting : horsemen 
rode at full gallop past our windows. I sent an officer 
to learn the cause of this uproar. Had the commanders 
of the place been informed of our projects ? Had we 
been discovered ? But my messenger soon returned 
with the news that it was only the soldiers going to fetch 
their horses, which were outside the quarter. A few 
more minutes passed, when I was told the colonel was 
waiting for me. Full of hope I rush into the street ; 
M. Parquin, in the uniform of a brigadier general, and 
a commander of a battalion, are by my side. A dozen 
of officers or so attend us. 
6* 



90. . LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

'' The distance was short, and was soon traversed. "We 
found the regiment drawn np in form of battle in the 
barrack yard inside the rails : upon the grass were sta- 
tioned forty of the horse artillery. 

" Mother, conceive the happiness I felt at that mo- 
ment ! After twenty years of exile, I touched, at last, 
the sacred soil of my country ; I found myself with 
Frenchmen whom the recollection of the emperor was 
again to electrify ! 

"Colonel Vaudrey stood alone in the middle of the 
yard. I proceeded towards l^im. Immediately the 
colonel, whose noble countenance and fine figure had at 
the moment something of the sublime, drew his sword 
ana exclaimed, — 

** ' Soldiers of the fourth artillery ! A great revolution 
is being accomplished this moment ! You see before you 
the nephew of the Emperor Napoleon ; he comes to recon- 
quer the rights of the people ; the people and the army can 
rely upon him. It is around him that all who love the 
glory and the liberty of France should rally. Soldiers ! you 
must, like your chief, feel all the grandeur of the enter- 
prise which you are about to attempt, all the sacredness of 
the cause which you are about to defend. Soldiers ! can the 
nephew of the Emperor Napoleon rely upon your fidelity ? ' 

*' His voice was immediately drowned in unanimous 
cries of ' Vive Napoleon ! ' ^ Vive FEmpereur ! ' 

" I then spoke to this effect : — 

" ' Kesolved to conquer or die for the cause of the 
French people, it is to you that I have wished to present 
myself in the first instance, because between you and 
me exist great recollections ; it is in your regiment that 
the emperor, my uncle, served as captain ; it is with you 
that he made his name famous at the siege of Toulon ; 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 91 

and it is your braye regiment again that opened the gates 
of Grenoble for him on his return from Elba. Soldiers ! 
new destinies are in store for you. To you is accorded 
the honor of commencing a great enterprise ; to you the 
honor of being the first to salute the eagle of Austerlitz 
and Wagram.' 

" I then snatched the eagle from the hands of M. de 
Querelle, one of my officers, and presenting it to them : — 

' *^ ' Soldiers ! ' I continued, * behold the symbol of the 
glory of France, destined also to become the emblem of 
liberty. For fifteen years it led our fathers to victory, 
it glittered on all the battle fields, it traversed all the 
capitals of Europe. Soldiers ! will you not rally round 
this noble standard which I intrust to your honor and 
to your courage ? Will you not march with me against 
traitors and the oppressors of our country, to the cry of 
'' Vive la France 1 Vive la liberie ! " ' 

"A thousand shouts responded in the affirmative. 
We commenced our march, the band playing in front ; 
joy and hope sparkled on every countenance. The plan 
was to hasten to the general, and by presenting, not a 
dagger to his throat, but the eagle before his eyes, to 
induce him to join us. To reach his house we should 
pass through the whole city. On the way, I had to send 
an officer with a company of men to the printer's to pub- 
lish my proclamation ; another to the prefect, to arrest 
him ; in short, they received so many special missions, 
that when we arrived at the general's, I had voluntarily 
parted with a pretty large share of my forces. But 
was it necessary to surround myself with so many sol- 
diers ? Was I not relying on the participation of the 
people ? And, in truth, whatever may have been said 
to the contrary, all along the route, I received the most 



92 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

unequivocal signs of the sympathy of the population. I 
had actually to struggle against the vehemence of the 
marks of interest which were showered on me, and the 
difference of the tones that welcomed me showed that 
there was no party which did not sympathize with the 
emotions of my heart. 

" Having arrived at the general's hotel, I ascended^ 
followed by Yaudrey, Parquin, and two officers. The 
general was not yet dressed. I spoke : — 

" ' General, I approach you as a friend. I would be 
sorry to raise our old tricolor without the assistance of a 
brave soldier like you. The garrison is in my favor i 
decide and follow me.' We presented the eagle, but he 
rejected it, saying, — 

" ' Prince, you have been deceived. The army knows 
its duty ; and of this I shall soon convince you.' Then 
I departed, giving orders to leave a file of men to guard 
him. The general afterwards presented himself before 
his soldiers to induce them to obedience ; but the artil- 
lerymen, under the orders of M. Parquin, disregarded 
his authority, replying only by repeated shouts of ' Yive 
I'Empereur ! ' "When I left his hotel I was greeted with 
the same acclamations of ' Long live the emperor ! ' But 
this check had already seriously affected me ; I was not 
prepared for it, convinced as I had been that the first 
sight of the eagle would be sufficient to awake in the 
general old recollections of glory, and to induce him to 
join us. 

" We again put ourselves on the march ; we quitted 
the street, and entered the barrack of Finckmatt, by the 
lane leading to it from the Faubourg de Pierre. This 
barrack is a large building, built in a place whence there 
seems to be no other outlet ; the ground in front is too 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 93 

narrow to admit of a regiment's being drawn np there 
in order of battle. On seeing myself thus blocked up 
between the rampart and tbe barracks, I perceived that 
the plan agreed upon had not been followed out. At 
our arrival the soldiers thronged around us. I ha- 
rangued them. The greater part ran for their arms, and 
returned to rally around me, testifying their sympathy by 
their acclamations. However, seeing them manifest a 
sudden hesitation, caused by the reports of some officers 
who tried to inspire them with doubts of my identity, 
and besides, as we were losing valuable time in an un- 
favorable position here, instead of hastening to the other 
regiments that expected us, I ordered the colonel to de- 
part : he entreats me to remain a little longer : I comply 
with his advice : a few minutes after, it was too late. 
Infantry officers come up ; they order the gates to be 
closed, and strongly reprimand their soldiers. The lat- 
ter still hesitate : I order the arrest of the officers : their 
soldiers rescue them : then all is confusion. The space 
was so contracted we were all lost in the crowd. The 
people, who had scaled the wall, flung stones on the 
military. The cannoneers wished to use their arms, but 
we prevented them ; it would have caused the deaths 
of many. I saw the colonel by turns arrested by the 
infantry and rescued by his soldiers : I was myself on 
the point of being slain by a number of men, who, rec- 
ognizing me, presented their bayonets. I was parrying 
their thrusts with my sabre, trying to calm them at the 
same time, when the cannoneers rescued me from their 
guns, and placed me in the middle of themselves. I 
rushed then, with some subaltern officers, towards the 
mounted artilleiymen, to seize a horse ; all the infantry 
followed me, and I found myself hemmed in between 



94 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 

the liorses and the wall, without being able to move. 
The soldiers, coming up from all sides, seized and took 
me to the guard room. On entering I found M. Par- 
quin : I gave him my hand ; he took it, saying, with a 
calm and resigned air, ^ Prince, we shall be shot, but 
it will be a noble death.' ' Yes,' said I, ' we have fallen 
in a grand and noble enterprise.' 

" Soon after General Voirol enters. ' Prince,' said he, 
' you have found but one traitor in the French army.' 
* Say rather, general, that I have found a Labedoyere.' * 
Carriages were brought, which took us to the new 
prison. 

" Behold me, then, between four walls, with barred 
windows, in the abode of criminals. Ah, those who 
know what it is to pass in a moment from the excess of 
happiness, caused by the noblest illusions, to the excess 
•of misery, where there is no longer any room for hope, 
and to leap this immense gulf without an instant's prepa- 
ration, those alone can comprehend what was passing in 
my heart. 

" At the lodge we met again. M. de Querelles, press- 
ing my hand, said, in a loud voice, ^ Prince, in spite of 
our defeat, I am still proud of what we have done.' 
They subjected me to an examination. I was calm and 
resigned, for my part was taken. 

(( c "What has induced you to act as you have done ? ' 

a f ]VXy political opinions,' I replied, ' and a desire to 
see my country, from which a foreign invasion had ex- 
iled me. In 1830 I asked to be treated as a simple citi- 
zen ; they treated me as a pretender. Well, I have acted 
as a pretender.' 

* Immediately after the coup d'itat of 1851, Colonel Yaudrey was ap- 
pointed Goyeraor of the Hotel des Invalides. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. m 

'^ ' Did you wish to establish a military government ? ' 
'^ ' I wished to establish a government based on popu- 
lar election.' 

" ' "What would you have done^ if successful ? ' 
*^ ^ I would have assembled a national congress.' 
^' I then said that as I had been the sole organizer, 
and had induced the others to join me, on my head alone 
should the responsibility of the whole affair rest. Led 
back to prison, I threw myself on the bed prepared for 
me, and in spite of my sufferings, sleep came to soothe 
my senses. But how frightful was my awaking ! 

" It was the fate of the men who were compromised 
by my misfortune, that gave me most uneasiness. I 
wrote to General Voirol, telling him that he was bound 
in honor to interest himself for Colonel Vaudrey, for it 
was perhaps the attachment which the colonel had en- 
tertained for him, and the regard with which he had 
treated him, that had been the chief cause of the failure 
of my enterprise. I ended with the demand that all the 
rigor of the law should fall on me, saying that I was the 
most guilty and the most to be feared. 

" The general came to see me, and was very affec- 
tionate. He said on entering, ' Prince, when I was your 
prisoner I had only hard words to say to you ; now, 
since you are mine, I have only words of consolation to 
offer.' 

" Colonel Vaudrey and I were led to the citadel, where 
I, at least, was better off than in the prison ; but the 
civil power claimed us, and at the end of twenty-four 
hours we were put back into our former abode. 

" The jailer and the governor of the prison of Stras- 
burg did their duty, but endeavored to alleviate my situ- 
ation as much as possible ; whilst a certain M. Lebel, 



96 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

who had been sent from Paris, wishing to show his au- 
thority, prevented me from opening the windows to 
breathe the fresh air, deprived me of my watch, which 
he did not restore till at my departure, and, in fine, had 
ordered blinds to be made in my cell to keep out the 
light. The evening of the 9th of November, I was told 
that I was to be transferred into another prison. I went 
out and met the general and the prefect, who took me 
away in their carriage, without telling me in what direc- 
tion I was going. I insisted on being left with my com- 
panions in misfortune, but the government had decided 
otherwise. Arriving at the hotel of the prefect, I found 
two post chaises. I was ordered into one, in company 
with M. Cuynat, commander of the gendarmerie of the 
Seine, and Lieutenant Thiboulet ; in the other were four 
Oihcers. 

" When I found that I was to leave Strasburg, and 
that my fate was to be separated from that of the other 
accused, I felt a grief difficult to describe. 

" See me forced to abandon the men who have sacri- 
ficed themselves for me ; deprived of the means of mak- 
ing known, at my defence, my ideas and my intentions ; 
receiving a so-called favor from the hands of one to 
whom I had wished to do the greatest injury. I vented 
my sorrow in complaints and regrets: I could only 
protest. 

" The two officers that accompanied me were officers 
of the empire, intimate friends of M. Parquin, and ac- 
cordingly they treated me with much kindness. I could 
have thought I was travelling with friends. On the 
11th, at two in the morning, I arrived in Paris, at the 
prefecture of police. M. Delessert received me with 
attention j he told me that you had come to France to 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 9^ 

implore the king's clemency in my favor, that I was to 
start again in two hours for Lorient, and that thence I 
was to sail for the United States, in a French frigate. 

" I told the prefect that I was in despair at not shar- 
ing the fate of my companions in misfortune ; that, thus 
taken out of prison before undergoing a general exami- 
nation, (the first had been only a summary one,) I was 
deprived of the means of testifying to many facts in 
favor of the accused. But these protestations being 
fruitless, I decided to write to the king. In my letter, 
I told him that, thrown into prison after having taken 
up arms against his government, I had but one object of 
dread — his generosity ; since it should deprive me of 
my sweetest consolation — - the possibility of sharing the 
fate of my companions in misfortune. I added, that 
life was of little account to me now, but my gratitude to- 
wards him would be great, if he spared the lives of a 
few old soldiers, the remains of the grand army, pre- 
vailed upon by me, and seduced by glorious recollections. 

''At the same time I wrote to M. O'Dillon Barrot, 
begging him to take charge of the defence of.Colonel Vau- 
drey. At four o'clock I re«umed my journey with the 
same escort, and on the 14th we arrived at the citadel 
of Port Louis, near Lorient. I remained there till the 
21st, on which day the frigate was ready for sea." 

So far Louis Napoleon to his mother* 

In his letter to O'Dillon Barrot, the prince regrets his 
exclusion from the trial ; he would have justified his 
fellow-prisoners. " Of course," he continues, " in the 
eyes of the government, we are all guilty of having 
taken up arms against it; but of all, I am the most 
guilty. It is I, who, long meditating a revolution, have 
come and dragged these men away from their honorable 
9 



98 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III, 

social position, to precipitate them into all the hazards 
of a popular disturbance. Before the laws, my compan- 
ions are guilty of allowing themselves to be led away ; 
but never were circumstances more extenuating, in the 
eyes of the country, than those in their favor. When 
I saw Colonel Vaudrey and the others, on the evening of 
the 29th, I addressed to them the following language : — 

'^ ^ Gentlemen, you are aware of the feelings of the 
nation tow^ards the government of the 9th of August ; 
but you know also that no party exists at the present 
day strong enough to overthrow it, or powerful enough 
to unite all Frenchmen in one common cause, even if 
they succeeded in taking possession of the supreme 
power. This weakness of government, as well as this 
weakness of parties, proceeds from the fact that each 
represents the interests only of a single class of society. 
Some rely on the clergy and nobility, others on the 
middle-class aristocracy, and others on the proletarian 
classes alone. 

" * In this state of things, there is but one standard 
that can rally all parties, because it is the standard of 
France, and not that of faction , it is the eagle of the 
empire. Under this flag, that recalls so many glorious 
recollections, there is no class excluded; it represents 
the interests and the rights of all. The Emperor Na- 
poleon held hi^ power from the French people ; four 
times his authority received their sanction ; in 1804 
the hereditary right of the family of the emperor was 
recognized by four million votes ; since that time, the 
people have never been consulted. 

'^ ^ As the eldest of the nephews of Napoleon, I can, 
then, consider myself as the representative of popular 
election ; I shall not say of the empire, because in twenty 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. $^ 

years the Ideas and wants of France must necessarily 
have changed ; but a principle cannot be annulled by 
facts ; it can be annulled only by another principle, and 
it is not the twelve hundred thousand strangers of 1815, 
nor the chamber of 321 of 1880, that can render the 
principle of the election of 1804 void. 

*^ * The Napoleon system consists in promoting civili- 
zation, without disorder and without excess ; in giving 
an impulse to ideas by developing material interests ; in 
strengthening power by making it respectable ; in disci- 
plining the masses according to their intellectual facul- 
ties ; in short, in uniting around the altar of the country 
Frenchmen of all parties, by giving them fame and glory 
as motives of action. Let us restore/ said I, 'the peo- 
ple to their rights, the eagle to our standards, and stability 
to our institutions. What ! ' I cried, at last ; 'princes of 
divine right find many men ready to die for them, to 
restore their abuses and their privileges ; and I, whose 
name represents the glory, the honor, and the rights of 
the people, shall I die alone in exile ? ' ' No ! ' exclaimed 
my brave companions, in reply, ' you shall not die alone ; 
we will die with you, or conquer together for the cause 
of the French people ! '" 

The rest of this part of the letter to O'Dillon Barrot 
consists of strong representations in justification of his 
companions, which, however, we must pass, and resume 
his letter to his mother, wherein he describes his wan- 
derings over the ocean. 



100 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTER yil. 

Continuation of Louis Napoleon^ s Letter to Ms Mother.-— 
Leaves France. — On the Atlantic. — Rio Janeiro. — Ar- 
rives in New York. — Letter to Vieillard. — Short Stay in 
New York. — Called hack by his Mother's Illness. — Her 
Death. — Laity's Pamphlet. — Louis Napoleon ohliged to 
leave Switzerland in consequence. — Letter to the Swiss 
Government. — Life in London. — Publishes " Idees Napo- 
leoniennes." 

" Ik Sight op Madeira, Dec. 12, 1836. 
" I REMAINED teii days at the citadel of Port Louis ; 
every morning I received visits from the sous-prefet of 
Lorient, from the commander of the place, and from the 
colonel of the gendarmerie. All were full of attentions 
towards me^ and never ceased to speak of their attach- 
ment to the memory of the emperor. I believed myself 
among friends, and the recollection that they v/ere in a 
position hostile to me gave me much pain. The winds 
were contrary, and prevented the frigate from leaving 
port : at last, on the 21st, a steamboat took her in tow : 
the sous-prefet came to tell me it was time to depart. 
The drawbridge was lowered ; I went forth, accompa- 
nied by the hospitable officers of the place, in addition 
to those who brought me to Lorient ; I passed through 
two files of soldiers, who kept off the curious assembled 
to see me. 

" We all entered the boats that, were to take us to the 
frigate, which awaited us out of port. I took leave of 
the gentlemen with cordiality. I ascended the ladder, 
and saw with a heavy heart the shores of France disap- 
pear from my view. 

" The first fortnight of the voyage was very disagree- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEOx^ III. 101 

able ; we were continually tossed about by tempests and 
contrary winds^ which drove us back as far as the Straits 
of Dover : during all this time it was impossible to walk 
a single step without holding on to whatever came with- 
in reach. 

" It was only a few days since that we heard of our 
destination. 

" The captain had received sealed instructions, which, 
having opened, he found ordered him to go to Rio, to 
remain there long enough to renew his provisions, to 
keep me on board while in port, and finally to take me 
to New York. 

" 14. In sight of the Canaries. Every man carries 
within himself a world composed of all that he has seen 
and loved, to which he continually returns even whilst 
wandering over a strange land. I do not know at such 
times which are the more afflicting recollections, those 
of evils that have befallen us, or those of happy hours 
now no more. We have gone through winter, and ^re 
once more in spring ; trade winds have succeeded the 
tempests, and allow me to remain most part of the time 
on deck, seated on the poop, reflecting on what has 
happened, thinking on you and on Arenemberg. Situa- 
tions in which we are placed depend for their effect on 
the affection with which we regard them. Two months 
ago I had no wish but never to return to Switzerland 
again ; but now, if I yielded to my impressions, I would 
desire nothing more than to find myself seated in my 
little chamber, in the midst of that noble country, where, 
it seems to me, I ought to have been so happy. 

"January 1, 1837. This is New Year's Day. I am 
fifteen hundred leagues away from you, in another hem- 
isphere : happily, thought traverses all this space in less 
9* 



102 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

than a second. And in tliouglit I am near you : I 
express all my regrets for the torments I have occa- 
sioned you ; I renew the expression of my tenderness 
and gratitude. This morning the officers came in a 
body to wish me a happy new year — an attention with 
which I was sensibly touched. At half past four we 
were at table ; as we are seventeen degrees west of Con- 
stance, it was at that time about seven o'clock at Are- 
nemberg ; you were then, probably, also at dinner. In 
thought I drank your health ; perhaps you did the 
same towards me ; at least, I took pleasure in thinking 
so. I also thought of my companions in misfortune. 
Alas ! I am always thinking of them. I thought they 
were more unhappy than I, and this idea rendered me 
more unhappy even than themselves. 

" January 10. We have just arrived at Rio Janeiro. 
The coujp di'ceil of the harbor is magnificent : to-mor- 
row I shall make a sketch of it. 1 hope this letter will 
reach you soon. Do not think of coming to join me. I 
do not yet know where I shall settle ; perhaps I shall 
find more inducements to live in South America ; the 
labor to which, in order to create myself a position, the 
uncertainty of my fate will compel me, will be the only 
consolation I shall enjoy. 

" Adieu, mother : remember me to the old servants, 
and all our fiiends of Thurgovia and Constance." 

We do not know if the prince continued his journal ; 
we only know that he arrived a few weeks afterwards at 
New York. From this city he addressed to the old 
guardian of his brother Napoleon, M. Vieillard, at present 
a distinguished member of the French Senate, a letter 
evidently intended for the public eye, in which he 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 103 

explained tlie objects at wMcli he had aimed, and the 
motives upon which he had acted. We need hardly 
apologize for presenting an extract from this letter. 

"^ I had two lines of conduct to pursue — one in 
some measure depending. on myself, the other on events. 
In choosing the former, I was, as you say it well, a 
means ; in waiting for the latter, I was only a resource. 
According to my views and convictions, the first part 
seemed far preferable to the second. The success of my 
enterprise offered me the following advantages : I would 
have performed by a coup de main, in one day, the work 
of perhaps ten years ; if successful, I would have spared 
France the struggles, the troubles, the disorders insepara- 
ble from, an overthrow of government, which ivill occur, 
I thinJc, sooner or later. ' The spirit of a revolution,' 
says M. Thiers, ^ consists of a violent passion for the 
object in view, and a bitter hatred towards all those that 
stand in the way of its attainment.' Having led the 
people on, by means of the army, we should have had 
the noble passions without the hatred, for hatred springs 
only from the struggle between physical force and moral 
force. As to myself, my position would have been 
clear, simple, and easy. Accomplishing a resolution 
with the assistance of only fifteen persons, on my arrival 
in Paris, I would have owed my success only to the 
people, and not to a party : arriving there victorious, I 
would have laid down my sword on the altar of my 
country of my own free will, without having been com- 
pelled to it ; then confidence might well be placed in 
me, for it was no longer my name alone, but my person, 
which became a pledge for my conduct. In the con- 
trary case, I would have been ealled on only by a frac- 
tion of the people, and I would have had for enemies. 



104 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

not only a feeble government, but a number of otber 
parties, and tliey too, perhaps, national. 

" Besides, it is more easy to prevent anarchy than to 
suppress it — to direct the masses is m*ore easy than to 
follow their passions. Coming as a resource, I was only 
one banner more flung into the fight, with an influence 
immense in the charge, but powerless in the rally. 
Finally, in the former case I was at the helm of a ship 
which has only one obstacle to conquer ; in the latter, on 
the contrary, I was in a vessel beaten by the winds, 
which, in the midst of the tempest, knows not what 
course to pursue. It is true that the more advantages 
the success of the first plan presented, the more grounds 
for blame resulted from its failure. But on entering 
France, I never thought on what part I should play in 
case of defeat ; if unfortunate, I should regard my 
proclamations as my testament, and look on death as a 
favor." 

This remarkable letter, written, as was said, at New 
York, was dated April oO, 1837. 

. The authors of the " Napoleon Dynasty " — a work, 
by the way, occasionally written with ability, and going 
over much ground, but full of the most glaring and 
actually absurd mistakes regarding dates, names, and 
facts — have the following paragraph concerning Louis 
Napoleon's life in New York. 

" Although he remained here but a short time, he 
devoted himself with energy and zeal to the study of 
American politics, and investigations into the actual 
state of arts, sciences, and inventions. He was particu- 
larly interested in some experiments then being made 
in the development of electro-magnetism. He made 
frequent visits to the room where these experiments 



LIFE OF NAPOLEOX III. 105 

were going 011, in company with several of our well- 
known citizens ; and althougk it may have been thought 
that he was prompted by the idlest curiosity, one of the 
first acts of his government after the coup d'etat of 
December 2, was the ofiier of a magnificent premium for 
any improvement, in any part of the world, in the 
electro-magnet, showing that he had not forgotten, 
during fifteen years, the subject in which he then pro- 
fessed to be so deeply interested." 

He seems to have had no thought of returning to the 
old world ; on the contrary, he was preparing for a 
protracted stay in the United States, when, after a resi- 
dence in New York of little more than a month, he was 
suddenly called back to Europe. 

His mother, whose health had been failing for some 
time, soon felt her disorder much aggravated by the 
melancholy news of the unhappy Strasburg enterprise, 
and by her protracted separation from her son. Seeing 
herself obliged to undergo a dangerous operation, and 
fearing a catastrophe, she addressed him the following 
letter, dated April 3, 1837 : — 

*' My deae. Son : I am about to undergo an operation 
which has become absolutely necessary. If it does not 
succeed, I send you by this letter my last blessing. We 
shall meet in another world, where you will rejoin me after 
a long life. In quitting this, I have but one regret — to 
leave you and your affectionate tenderness, the greatest 
charm of my existence here. It will be a great consola- 
tion for you, my dear son, to think that by your cares you 
have rendered your mother as happy as circumstances 
allow her to be. I think also on all my tenderness 
towards you, and take courage ; remember that we 



106 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

always cast an affectionate and penetrating eye on all 
we leave after ns here below ; and surely we shall meet 
again. To good Arsene also I give my blessing as to a 
son. I embrace tbee, my dear son. I am quite calm 
and resigned, and still hope we shall see each other in 
this world ; but the will of God be done. • 

" Thy tender mother, 

" HORTENSE." 

On the receipt of this letter he immediately left New 
York for Europe, and arrived at Arenemberg in time to 
receive his mother's last blessing and her last sigh. His 
grief for such a loss may be imagined. From that mo- 
ment he lived in almost absolute retirement, seeking 
consolation only in study. It was at that time he com- 
menced an important work, which he intended to pub- 
lish under the name of " Napoleonic Ideas." Of this 
we shall speak in its turn. 

It having been commonly rumored that Louis Napo- 
leon had promised the French government to remain in 
America for ten years, people were surprised to see him 
settle again in Switzerland. But in a letter to M. Vieil- 
lard, spoken of above, the prince solemnly and perti- 
naciously denies having been even ever asked for such 
engagement ; and in reply to an entreaty from the min- 
istry to Queen Hortense to use her influence in obtain- 
ing such a promise from her son, she had stated that she 
could exert no influence on the conduct of a young man 
exclusively master of his own actions. 

Louis Philippe did not like to have such a neighbor. 
His name, now well known, his principles, his writings, 
his recent attempt, and above all, the uneasy state of the 
French mind, made him an object of very disagreeable 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 107 

apprehension. Still it is possible that lie might have 
been permitted to reside longer in Switzerland, had not 
a new affair in which he was engaged brought matters 
to a crisis. 

Ever since the time of the event at Strasburg, the 
enemies of the Napoleon name had taken every oppor- 
tunity, by exaggerated and distorted accounts of that 
affair, to throw ridicule and infamy on the head of its 
author. M. Persigny,* one of those concerned in that 
unsuccessful attempt, had retired to London, and w4iilst 
there thought it necessary to publish a refutation of these 
calumnies, by giving a plain statement of the whole 
matter. His pamphlet, published in England, easily 
reached other countries, Belgium, Germany, Italy ; but 
it was only with great difficulty that it could make its 
way into France. But M. Laity, who had also taken an 
active part in the enterprise, fearlessly published another 
edition of this book in Paris itself, under the title of 
'' An Historical Relation of the Events of the Third of 
October, 1836. Prince Napoleon at Strasburg. By Ar- 
mand Laity, Ex-Lieutenant of Artillery. Paris, 1838." 

As might be expected, the author was immediately 
arrested and accused before the Court of Peers of hav- 
ing provoked an attempt against the safety of the state. 

The trial excited great interest. It soon became 
known that Laity had been Louis Napoleon's intimate 
companion for the last six months, and had come to 
Paris expressly to publish his book. This w^ork had 
been distributed gratuitously, and though ten thousand 
copies had been printed, the ministry could seize only 
four hundred and six. 

Louis Napoleon wrote the following letter to his 

* M. Persigny was made Secretary of the Interior soon after the •' coup 
d^Uat " of 1851. 



108 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

friend, just before his trial, to encourage him, and to fur- 
nish new grounds of defence. 

*^ My dear Laity : You are then to appear before 
the Court of Peers, because you have had the generous 
devotion to reproduce the details of my enterprise, in 
order to justify my intentions, and to repel the accusa- 
tions of which I have been the object. I do not com- 
prehend why the government thinks it so important to 
prevent the publication of your book. You know that, 
in authorizing you to publish it, my only object was to 
repel the base calumnies with which the organs of the 
ministry overwhelmed me during the five months I was 
in prison or on the ocean. It concerned my own honor 
and that of my friends to. prove that it was not a mad 
impulse that had brought me to Strasburg in 1836. 
They say that your pamphlet is a new conspiracy; 
whereas, on the contrary, it defends me from the re- 
proach of having ever conspired at all ; and it is dis- 
tinctly stated in its earlier pages that we have waited 
nearly two years to publish the details relating to me, 
in order that the minds of men might be more calm, 
and that they could judge me without hatred and with- 
out prejudice. 

" If, as I would fain believe, a spirit of justice ani- 
mates the Court of Peers, if it is independent of the 
executive power, as the Constitution requires it to be, 
then there is no possibility that it can condemn you ; for 
— I cannot too often repeat it — your pamphlet is not a 
new instigation to revolt, but only the simple and true 
explanation of a fact which has been distorted. I have 
nothing else in the world to rest on but public opinion, 
nothing to sustain me but the esteem of my fellow-citizens. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 109 

If it is not allowed to me and to my friends to defend our- 
selves against unjust calumnies, I shall consider my fate 
the most cruel that can be conceived. You know my 
friendship for you well enough to comprehend how I 
am pained at the idea of your being the victim of your 
devotedness ; but I also know that, with your noble 
character, you suffer with resignation for a popular 
cause. People will ask you, as already some journals 
do, ' Where is the IS'apoleon party ? ' Answer, ' The 'party 
is nowhere, but the cause is every where.' The party is 
nowhere, because my friends are not yet mustered ; but 
the cause has partisans every where, from the artisan's 
workshop to the king's council chamber, from the sol- 
dier's barrack to the palace of the Marshal of France. 
Bepublicans, Moderates, Legitimists, — all who desire a 
strong government, a real liberty, and an imposing atti- 
tude on the part of authority, all these, I say, are Na- 
poleonists, whether they acknowledge it or not ; for the 
imperial system is not a bastard imitation of the English 
or American constitutions, but the governmental form 
of the principles of the revolution — order in democracy, 
equality before the law, recompense for merit ; in short, 
it is a colossal pyramid, with broad basis and exalted 
summit. 

" Say that, in authorizing you to publish this brochure, 
my aim has not been to trouble the present tranquillity 
of France, nor to excite the hardly-extinguished flames 
of passions, but to show myself to my fellow-citizens 
such as I am, not such as interested animosity has rep- 
resented me. But if, some day, parties overthrow the 
present power, (the example of the last fifty years per- 
mits us such a supposition,) and if, accustomed, as they 
have been for twenty-three years, to despise authority , 
10 



110 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

they sap all the bases of the social edifice, then, perhaps, 
the name of Napoleon would prove an anchor of safety 
for all that is generous and really patriotic in France. 

" Adieu, my dear Laity. I would still have some 
hopes of justice, if the interest of the moment were not 
the only principle of parties." 

The Italics are our own : they mai'k the formal prophe- 
cy of events, the accomplishment of which we have 
all seen. 

But in spite of a powerful defence spoken by him- 
self, and of another pronounced by his counsel, M. 
Michel, Laity was condemned to an imprisonment of 
five years, a fine of 10,000 francs ($2000,) and, after 
the expiration of his term, to be subjected to the sur- 
veillance of the police for the remainder of his life. 
However, the generosity of his devotedness towards the 
nephew of the emperor excited warm sympathies for 
him universally. And a general of the empire, rich 
and without children, made him his heir to a fortune of 
20,000 francs a year. 

But, after such an act of boldness, residence in Swit- 
zerland could no longer be allowed to Louis Napoleon. 
The ministry of Louis Philippe demanded his expul- 
sion from the Helvetic territory, on the ground that he 
had given a promise to remain ten years in America, 
which he had now violated by coming back to Europe. 
Of course they were willing to make every allowance 
for the honorable motive which prompted his return ; 
but why, they asked, after closing his mother's eyes, 
why had he not gone back to the United States, instead 
of remaining on the frontiers of France, hatching con- 
spiracies against the throne of July ? 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. Ill 

A note was addressed to the Helvetic Diet by the 
Duke de Montebello, French ambassador in Switzerland, 
formally demanding the expulsion of the prince. Such 
a pretension the cantons strongly resisted, as offensive 
at once to their independence and their affections. The 
government of Louis Philippe, determining on the 
removal, at any cost, of one whom they regarded as a 
dangerous enemy, ordered an armed demonstration to be 
made on the frontiers, thinking that the very sight of a 
numerous army in the neighborhood would frighten the 
Swiss into obedience. But the hardy republic immediate- 
ly assembled 20,000 men, and war would have infalli- 
bly broken out between the two countries, had not the 
prince, unwilling that his name should serve as a pretext 
for the effusion of human blood, taken the resolution to 
withdraw of his own free will. Accordingly he ad- 
dressed the following letter to the Helvetic Diet : — 

" To His Excellency the Landamann Andenvert, President of tlm 
Council of Thurgovia. ■ 

" Sib, : When the note of the Duke de Montebello 
was addressed to the Diet, I was not willing to submit 
to the demands of the French government ; for it was 
necessary for me to prove, by my refusal to depart, that 
I had returned to Switzerland without breaking any en- 
gagement ; that I had the right to reside there, and that 
there I should find aid and protection. 

" Switzerland, a month ago, by her energetic protests, 
and now by the decisions of her Grand Councils at this 
time assembled, has shown that she was and is ready to 
make the greatest sacrifices to maintain her dignity and 
her rights as an independent nation. In my turn I shall 
know how to do my duty, and to remain faithful to the 



112 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

voice of honor. They may persecute, but can never 
degrade me. 

"The French government having declared that the 
refusal of the Diet to comply with its demand would 
be the signal of a conflagration, of which Switzerland 
was to be the victim, nothing remains for me now but 
to quit a country where my presence is made the ground 
for such unjust pretensions, and where it would become 
the pretext for such great misfortunes. 

" I pray you, then, M. Landamann, to announce to 
th*e Federal Directory, that I shall depart as soon as 
the passports necessary for my journey to a place where 
I shall find an assured asylum are obtained from the 
ambassadors of the different powers. 

^^ In leaving voluntarily, at this time, the only coun- 
try in Europe where I have found support and protec- 
tion, in departing from scenes which had become dear 
to me for so many reasons, I hope to prove to the 
Swiss people that I was worthy of the marks of esteem 
and affection which they had lavished upon me. I shall 
never forget the noble conduct of the cantons that have 
spoken so boldly in my favor; and above all, the 
generous protection which the canton of Thurgovia 
has afforded me shall remain deeply engraved on my 
heart. 

" I hope that this separation will not be final, and that 
a day will come, when, without compromising the inter- 
ests of two nations which ought to be friends, I can re- 
turn to the asylum which a residence of twenty years 
and acquired rights have made a second native land. 

^^ Have the goodness, M. Landamann, to express my 
sentiments of gratitude to the councils, and believe me 
that the thought of sparing Switzerland much trouble 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 113 

is tlie only idea tliat soothes tlie regret which I feel in 
quitting her soil. 

" Arenemberg, Sejjt. 22, 1838." 

The receipt of this letter of course put an end to all 
hostilities ; the French troops withdrew, and Louis Na- 
poleon took refuge in England, 

The same author that we have already quoted, a friend 
of the prince's no doubt, thus speaks of his occupation, 
and the kind of life he led whilst residing in the English 
metropolis, '^ The prince is a man of industry and toil, 
severe towards himself, indulgent to others. From six 
o'clock in the morning he is in his cabinet, where he 
works till noon, when he takes breakfast. After this 
repast, which never lasts longer than ten minutes, he 
reads the journals and takes note of whatever is most 
important in the news or politics of the day. At two he 
receives visits ; at four he goes out on his private affairs ; 
he mounts his horse at five, and takes a run in the Park ; 
he dines at seven, and generally finds some time in the 
evening to devote to his labor. As to his tastes and 
habits, they are those of a man who appreciates life only 
on its serious side ; he does not value luxury for its own 
sake. In the morning he is dressed for the day ; of all 
his household, he wears the plainest clothes, though 
there is always about his dress a certain military ele- 
gance." 

His residence was at Carlton Terrace, and for the first 
year after his arrival in London, his principal occupation 
was to prepare for the press a new work, entitled " Des 
Idees NapoUoniennes " — ^' Thoughts on Napoleon," or, 
rather, " Thoughts on Napoleonism..^^ 

During his stay in England, and indeed on all occa- 
10* 



114 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

sions generally, Louis ISTapoieon being singularly re- 
served and taciturn, his ideas at that period, on matters 
of importance, can only be gleaned from bis writings. 
From bis Idees NajpoUoniennes it is clear enough 
that he never once despaired of one day being in pos- 
session of the sceptre of France. Of^ that we do not 
want subsequent facts to assure us. All his writings, 
all his correspondences, (and these he had with men of 
almost every party,) every act of his life at this period, 
was intended to bring him nearer to what he deemed the 
fulfilment of his mission — the reestablishment of the 
Kapoleonic sway over France. In fact^ with all his gloom, 
when conversing with an American gentleman on the 
subject, he said that 'Hhat time should come as surely 
as that the ashes of ISTapoieon were one day to rest on 
the banks of the Seine." He was* not aware that this 
was already contemplated by the French government. 

To maintain his conspicuous position in the eyes of 
his countrymen, the pen was still his only weapon. His 
restless spirit, longing for employment, having no oppor- 
tunity to display itself in battle, revealed its activity by 
giving forth ideas. His own inclinations, as well as the 
absorbing interest of the subject, led him to one theme. 
And what would be surer to attract the attention of the 
French nation, than an essay, political and military, on 
the actions of the great captain ? What topic had he 
himself studied more profoundly ? What could be 
blended more intimately with the political questions of 
the day ? Certainly none could be brought to bear more 
advantageously on his own peculiar position. The effect 
of this work must have been immense. This was not 
indeed immediately apparent. His failure at Boulogne 
and his long imprisonment at Ham show that his harrest 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 115 

took some time to ripen. But of the six million voters 
of 1848, how many must have been influenced by the 
thoughts given to the world in the Idees NajpoUoniennes 1 
From this work we intend to give several extracts in 
the next chapter. However meritorious in itself, it must 
now be regarded with peculiar interest, when its author 
is playing such a part in directing the affairs of the old 
world. By observing what parts of Napoleon's system 
he most warmly supports, we may obtain some glimpses 
into his own political tendencies. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



27ie Idees Napoleoniennes. — Objects of the Work. — Prog- 
ress. — No Government established on immutable Princi- 
ples. — United States and Russia, alone, are fulfilling their 
Mission. — Is France to do Nothing ? — Napoleon the tes- 
tamentary Executor of the Revolution. — Justice at last done 
to his Memory. — State of France on his Accessioji to Pow- 
er. — Intolerance. — His Object was to guide France to 
Liberty. — Favors no Party, — Centralization of his Au- 
thority necessary. — His grand Institutions. — The civil 
Order. — Napoleon 7io systematic Despot. — His grand 
Views of forming one great European Association. — In- 
tended to give France her full Share of Liberty. — Causes 
of his Fall. — Napoleonian Ideas have taken Root every 
where. — Remarks. 

The object aimed at in his Idees Napoleoniennes, 
Louis Napoleon sets forth in the preface. 

'^ If the destiny promised me by my birth had not 
been changed by events, nephew of the emperor, I would 



116 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

have been one of the defenders of his throne, one of 
the propagators of his ideas ; I would have had the 
glory of being one of the pillars of his throne, or of 
dying in one of the squares ' of his guards, fighting for 
France. The emperor is no more ; but his spirit is not 
dead. Deprived of the opportunity of defending his 
protecting power with the sword, I can at least try to 
defend his memory with the pen. To enlighten opin- 
ions by searching for the thought that presided over his 
lofty conceptions, to recall to men's minds the memory 
of his vast projects, — this is a task which still gratifies 
my heart and consoles me for exile. Fear of shocking 
contrary opinions shall not stay me ; ideas which are 
under the segis of the greatest genius of modern times 
can be avowed without circumlocution ; they cannot vary 

with the thermometer of the political atmosphere. 
" Carlton Terrace, July, 1839. " 

In the first chapter he opens the subject thus : — 
'' Are all the revolutions that have agitated the nations 
of the earth, are all the efibrts of great men, warriors 
or legislators, to result in nothing ? Are we to be mov- 
ing constantly in a vicious circle, where intelligence 
succeeds ignorance, and barbarism civilization ? Away 
with the afilicting thought. The sacred fire animating 
us is to conduct us to a result worthy of the divine 
power that imparts it. The amelioration of society is 
progressing incessantly, all obstacles notwithstanding; 
it knows no limits but those of the earth. 

'' * The human race,' says Pascal, ' is a man that never 
dies, and is always growing in perfection.' What truth 
and depth in this sublime image ! The human race 
never dies, but still it undergoes all the diseases to which 
man is subject ; and although it is always growing in 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 117 

perfection, it is not exempt from the human passions, that 
dangerous, but indispensable moral arsenal, the cause 
alike of our elevation and our fall." 

Farther on he speaks of the instability and the variety 
of the forms of government. 

^' Republics," he says, " are as old as the world itself. 
For ages the elective principle and hereditary right have 
been struggling for preeminence, and preeminence has 
by turns rested with those who have had intelligence, 
knowledge, right, or might on their side. There can be 
no government, then, established on invariable forms. 

" There is no more a government formula for the hap- 
piness of nations, than there is a universal panacea for 
curing all evils. 'Every question of political form,' 
says Carrel, ' has its data in the state of society, and no- 
where else.' These words contain a great truth. In 
politics, good is only relative, never absolute." 

It can be easily seen that he does not attach much im- 
portance to the distinctions usually made between the 
rule of one and the rule of many — between democratic 
governments and aristocratic governments. He sees in 
monarchy neither the principle of *' right divine," nor 
all those vices some choose to find in it. He sees in the 
hereditary system, indeed, the guarantee for the preserva- 
tion of a nation in its integrity ; and to prove this he 
reminds us that the two monarchies of France and Ger- 
many sprung at the same time into being, from the di- 
vision of the empire of Charlemange, and the crown 
became elective in Germany, but remained hereditary 
in France. Eight centuries afterwards, Germany found 
herself divided into a crowd of states; her nationality 
had disappeared ; whereas in France the hereditary prin- 
ciple has destroyed all the petty sovereigns, and formed 
a great and compact nation. 



118 LIFI3 OF NAPOLEON III. 

According to our author, the best government is that 
which fulfils its mission, that is to say, which, adapting 
itself to the wants of the times, and modelling itself on 
the existing state of society, employs the means neces- 
sary to^ clear and smooth the road for advancing civil- 
ization. 

"At present," he continues, " I see — and I say it with 
regret — only two governments which are properly fulfil- 
ling their providential mission ; these are the two giants 
at either end of the world ; one at the extremity of the 
new, the other at the extremity of the old. Whilst our 
old European centre is like a volcano burning itself out 
in its own crater, the two nations, on the east and on 
the west, advance without interruption towards their 
perfection ; one instigated by the will of an individual, 
the other by liberty. 

'' Providence has confided to the United States of 
America the duty of peopling and civilizing all that im- 
mense territory extending from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, and from the north pole to the equator. The 
government, which is only a simple administration, has 
60 far only to put in practice the old adage. Let things 
alone, to favor this irresistible instinct which impels the 
people of America to the west. 

" In Pussia, it is to the imperial dynasty is due all 
that progress which for a century and a half has been 
drawing that vast empire out of barbarism. The impe- 
rial power has to struggle against the old prejudices of 
all Europe ; it must centralize, as closely as possible, in 
the hands of one all the strength of the state, in order 
to destroy all the abuses that communal and feudal privi- 
leges still perpetuate. It is only from absolute power 
the East can receive the expected ameliorations. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 119 

"Bat thou, the France of Henry IV., of Louis XIY., 
of Carnot, of Napoleon — thou, that hast always been 
the source of progress to Western Europe — thou, that 
possessest the two columns of empire, the genius of the 
peaceful arts and the genius of war — hast thou no longer 
a mission to fulfil ? Art thou to exhaust thy forces and 
thy energy in a perpetual struggle with thy own chil- 
dren ? No, such cannot be thy destiny. Soon shall 
the day come, when, in order to govern thee, it must be 
understood that thy part is to fling into all treaties thy 
sword of Brennus in favor of civilization." 

In the succeeding chapter he shows us Napoleon ar- 
riving on the world's stage, to be the testamentary ex- 
ecutor of the revolution. The revolution of 1789 had 
sent forth some grand ideas, but it had also produced 
terrible convulsions. Napoleon's mission was to settle a 
society, still boiling with hatred and rancor, on solid 
principles, by employing, to consolidate, the same in- 
struments which, till then, had only served to destroy. 

Napoleon had no idea of restoring the ancient regime ; 
that would have been folly. He restored religion and 
the liberty of worship ; this was easy ; it was the wish 
of the nation. But France also wished the restoration 
of an hereditary government, and when questioned on the 
point, replied in the affirmative by four millions of votes. 
It is because nations, like individuals, are the slaves of 
their customs. One day does not turn a monarchy of 
fourteen hundred years into an elective republic, no 
more than one day could have made at Rome of a repub- 
lic of five hundred years an hereditary monarchy. Thus 
Kome preserved for six hundred years longer, under the 
emperors, the venerated forms of the republic ; and re- 
publican France preserved the fundamental traditions of 



120 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

the nionarchy, by enforcing tliat centralization of power 
which had been the vital element of the French na- 
tionality. 

Our author justifies Napoleon for having surmounted 
his republican laurels with a crown. 

" There are/' he says, " vulgar minds that, jealous of 
the superiority of merit, wish to revenge themselves by 
attributing to it their own paltry passions. Thus, in- 
stead of comprehending that a great man must have been 
directed only by great conceptions, by the most impor- 
tant state reasons, they say, ^Napoleon made himself 
emperor through personal ambition ; he surrounded him- 
self with the illustrious names of the old regime to sat- 
isfy his vanity ; he lavished the treasury of France and 
her purest blood to aggrandize his own power, and to 
set his brothers on thrones ; at last he married an Arch- 
duchess of Austria, to take a real princess to his bed.' 
^ Have I then reigned over pygmies in intelligence, they 
have so little understood me ? ' exclaimed Napoleon, at 
St. Helena, in a moment of ill humor. 

'^ Let his spirit be consoled ! The people long since 
have rendered him justice ; every day that passes by, re- 
vealing, as it does, one of the miseries that he has 
remedied, one of the evils that he has extirpated, suffi- 
ciently explains his noble projects. And his great 
thoughts are like lighthouses, which in the midst of 
storms and darkness show us the way to a harbor of 
security." 

In the third chapter, Louis Napoleon details the 
political system of the emperor for the internal govern- 
ment of France. Arriving at power, he saw at a glance 
what ideas had passed away irrevocably, what were 
henceforward to prevail, and what could be applied im- 
mediately. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 121 

^^The duty of every government/' he says, "is to 
combat the false ideas and direct the true ones, by 
marching boldly at their head ; for if, in place of direct- 
ing, a government allows itself to be directed, it runs to 
destruction, and compromises instead of protecting soci- 
ety. It is because the emperor was the representative 
of the true ideas of his age, that he so easily acquired 
his boundless ascendency. As to ideas prejudicial to 
society, he never attacked them openly; he approached 
them side wise, parleyed with them, treated with them, 
and at length subjected them by moral influence : he 
knew that violence is powerless against ideas." 

He maintains that the object of the emperor was to 
guide France to liberty. 

" Yes, to liberty ! " he exclaims ; " and the more we 
study the history of Na^poleon, the more we are con- 
vinced of this truth. For liberty is like a river. If it 
is to bring abundance, and not desolation, we must dig it 
a wide and deep channel. If, in its regular and majestic 
course, it remains within its natural limits, the countries 
which it waters bless its passage ; but if it comes like a 
torrent that bursts its banks, it is regarded as the most 
terrible of evils : then it excites universal hatred, and 
men are seen, in their infatuation, to recoil from liberty 
because it destroys, as if they would banish fire because 
it burns, and water because it drowns." 

The prince gives us a picture of the situation of 
France eft the moment of Napoleon's arrival from Egypt. 
We all know what disorder prevailed every where — 
nullity in the government, corruption in all branches of 
the administration, dejection and misery in the armies, 
civil war and anarchy at home, reverses and disasters 
11 



122 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

abroad : sucli was, in a few words, the state of the affairs 
of the republic. 

" Liberty and equality/' he goes on to say, " were in 
all men's mouths, but each party desired them only for » 
themselves. ' We will have equality,' said some, ^ but 
we will not grant the rights of citizens to the relatives 
of nobles and emigrants ; we will have a hundred and 
forty-five thousand Frenchmen still in exile.' ^ We 
wish for equality,' said others, ^ but we will not grant 
employment to the conventionalists ; we desire liberty, 
but we will maintain the law which condemns to d-eath 
those whose writings tend to recall the old governments ; 
we will maintain the law of hostages, which destroys the 
security of two hundred thousand families ; we will 
maintain the shackles which render nugatory the free- 
dom of public worship,' &c. 

'^ Such a contradiction between the principles pro- 
claimed and their application tended to introduce con- 
fusion into ideas and things. And so it must needs have 
been so long as there was no national 'power ivhich, by its 
stability and the consciousness of its strength, was exempt 
from passions, and able to give protection to all parties, 
without losing any part of its popular character. Men 
have had at all times the same passions : the causes 
which produce great changes are different, but the effects 
are often the same. There was in England in the sev- 
enteenth century a religious and republican sect, which, 
suffering persecution at the hands of an intolerant clergy 
and government, determined to abandon the land of 
their ancestors, and to cross the sea to enjoy, in an unin- 
habited world, that sweet and holy liberty which the 
old world refused them. Victims of intolerance, con- 
scious of the evils it inflicts — ah ! surely in the nations 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 123 

they go to found, those independent men will be more 
just than their oppressors. But — inconsistency of the 
human heart ! — the first law of the Puritans, founding a 
new society in the State of Massachusetts, condemned 
to death those who erred from their religious doctrines. 

" ISFapoleon, received with transport by entire France, 
and soon invested with indispensable authority, reestab- 
lished order in the different branches of the social body ; 
uniting moderation with firmness, he controlled all par- 
ties ; with him were extinguished all tendencies towards 
a reaction. Fortified by the acquiescence of the people, 
he proceeded rapidly to the abolition of all unjust laws, 
he healed all the wounds, he rewarded all the merits, 
adopted all the glories, and made the French unite in 
one single aim — the prosperity of France." 

Here the author enumerates the fii'st acts of Napoleon. 
We will not quote them ; they are known to all our 
readers. Every one is aware how he recalled the emi- 
grants, restored the Catholic religion, surrounded him- 
self with honorable men of all parties, his Council of 
State containing constitutionalists, as well as royalists, 
and even Jacobins, and how faithful to his principles of 
conciliation : if he gave a pension to the mother of Louis 
Philippe, he did not neglect to provide for the sister of 
Eobespierre. " Under the empire all idea of caste was 
destroyed. No one thought of boasting of his pedigree ; 
a man was asked what he had done, and not from whom 
he was descended." He defends {he emperor for having 
rendered himself the centre of his whole system of gov- 
ernment, on the ground that such a course was una- 
voidable. 

" In a government," he says, " of which the base is 
democratic, the head alone must possess the goyerning 



124 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

authority ; moral power proceeds solely from liim^ as to 
him alone every feeling ascends, whether loye or hate. 
In such a society centralization must be stronger than in 
any other. Centralization, then, was the only means of 
constituting France, of establishing there a sound gov 
ernment, of making it a compact whole, capable of 
resisting Europe, and of sustaining liberty eventually. 
Besides, the excess of centralization under the empire 
should not be considered as a settled, final system, but 
rather as a means to an end. In all institutions, it is 
the predominant idea and the general tendency that we 
must be particularly careful to search for and investigate. 

" What particularly distinguishes a good administra- 
tion is, that it represses all abuses with a strong arm, 
that it ameliorates the condition of the humbler classes, 
that it calls forth all the industries, that it holds an even 
balance between the rich and the poor, between those 
who work and those who employ, between the governed 
and those intrusted with authority." 

It is well known what order and economy were intro- 
duced in the regulation of imposts and the management 
of the finances, and how much at this epoch the revenue 
was reduced. The emperor computed that France 
wanted a budget of one hundred and sixty millions of 
dollars in a state of war, and one hundred and twenty 
millions in a state of peace. He created the Court of 
Accounts to control the general taxability of the coun- 
try. The Bank of France received considerable assist- 
ance also from the emperor, and finally, thanks to his 
energetic measures, the public credit rose rapidly. 

The institutions of Napoleon with regard to the judi- 
cature, the amelioration of the poor or suffering classes, 
the administration of justice in the Communes, his 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 125 

encouragement of agriculture, industry, public works, 
public instruction, and foreign commerce, form so many- 
articles, in which the author of Idees NapoUoniennes 
displays before us the conceptions of Napoleon in all 
their grandeur. 

As for the army, the author regards the conscription, 
which, unhappily, weighed so heavily upon France on 
account of the long continuation of the war, as one of 
the greatest institutions of the age. Not only did it 
consecrate the principle of equality, but it would prove, 
according to the observation of General Foy, the palla- 
dium of the independence of France ; because, by fusing 
the nation with the army, and the army with the nation, 
it furnished inexhaustible resources for defence. But 
the principle pervading it was to receive far greater 
developments. The establishment of the National Guard, 
in 1806, was the commencement of a vast organization, 
which only the interminable wars had prevented from 
being carried out. " At the peace," said Napoleon, " I 
would have induced monarchs to have no army but their 
own simple body guard ; I would have proceeded to or- 
ganise a National Guard in such a way that every citizen 
would know his post, and fly to it in time of danger ; 
then," he added, " we should truly have had a nation 
made of stone and mortar, capable of defying both time 
and man." 

Entering on the political organization of the empire, 
Louis Napoleon commences by reproaching the French 
for the mania they have for copying the eonstitutions of 
foreign nations, as if they had not their own nationality, 
their own manners and customs, which require special 
institutions. " Under the republic," he says, " we were 
Koman ; then the English constitution appeared the 
11* 



126 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

masterpiece of civilization ; the titles of ^ noble lord ' 
and ^ honorable member ' seemed more liberal than 
those of ^ senator ' and ^ tribune.' Still later rose the 
American school. Shall we never then be ourselves ? 
A constitution ought to be framed only for the nation 
for which it is intended." The dominant idea presiding 
over all the internal establishment of the emperor was 
to found a civil order. '' Till the present time," he said 
himself, '' but two powers have existed in the world — - 
the military and the ecclesiastic : I wish to constitute 
another in France — the civil order." 

The writer then goes on to explain the mechanism of 
the civil order instituted by JSTapoleon. 

^^ The emperor is the supreme chief of the state, 
elected by the people, and representing the nation. The 
imperial power alone is transmitted by hereditary right. 
No other function can be inherited ; all are open to 
election or to merit. There are two chambers — the sen- 
ate and the legislatui-e. The members of these bodies, 
with the exception of a third of the senate nominated 
by the emperor, were appointed by the people, though 
not by direct election." 

It would take too long to mention every degree in 
the imperial system enumerated by the prince ; but it 
may be summed up by saying that its base is democratic, 
since all its powers emanate from the people, while its 
organization is hierarchical ; since there are in society 
various ranks, to stimulate all capacities. 

" The competition is open to forty millions of souls ; 
merit alone is the distinction, the Various degrees of the 
social scale the reward. 

" In politics, every man may become a member of the 
cantonal assembly, an elector, a legislator, a member of 
the council of state, a senator, a grand dignitary. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 127 

" In tlie army, every man is a soldier, every soldier 
may become an officer, colonel, general, marshal. 

'' In the Legion of Honor, every class of merit is ad- 
missible on equal terms ; civil services, military, indus- 
trial, ecclesiastical, scientific, all may obtain the grades 
of legionaries, officers, commanders, grand officers, grand 
eagles. 

" It was so in public education, so in judicial, so in 
civil administration. 

'' The political body, like the teaching body, and like 
the administrative body, had its feet in the Communes 
and its head in the Senate. 

'' The government of the emperor was then, so to 
speak, a pyramidical colossus, with broad base and lofty 
head." 

'' In the choice of his functionaries the emperor con- 
sulted only their capacity, troubling himself little about 
their political bias. When a man seemed to suit his 
place he invariably maintained him there. Gaudin, ap- 
pointed minister of the finances under the consulate, 
did not retire till 1814. 

*^"We all know the happy effects produced by the 
Code Napoleon ; but this code was far from satisfying 
the extended views of the emperor. He wanted a uni- 
versal code, to contain all the efficient laws, so that all 
others not inscribed in it should be deemed null and 
void. ' What with some old enactments of Chilperic 
or of Pharamond hunted up at need,' he once said, ' no 
man can say that he may not be duly and legally 
hanged.' " 

Louis Napoleon replies to the charge of despotism 
sometimes made against the emperor. '' His power, it 
is true," he says, '• had all the authority necessary for 



128 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

creating j it was in proportion to the confidence wMcli 
tlie people had in him." "Under Napoleon/' says 
General Foy, whom we certainly cannot accuse of par- 
4;iality^ " people knew nothing of the petty tyranny of 
subalterns^ of the intolerance of castes^ nor of the intol- 
erable despotism of parties. The law was powerful^ 
often severe, but equal for all." 

" Could he be systematically a despot, who, by his 
codes and his organizations, was constantly tending to 
supplant the arbitrary by the legitimate ? " 

The highest eulogium of the emperor is in most of 
his acts ; his detractors can never destroy his influence. 
But as, during periods of transition, party spirit disfig- 
ures grand historical deeds, we can easily understand 
why Louis Napoleon thus reminded the masses^ whose 
admiration for Napoleon was so unbounded, that their 
veneration was not based on the deceitful glare of empty 
glory, but on an exact appreciation of actions which 
had for their object the well-being of humanity. 

The prince passes in review the campaigns and suc- 
cesses of the emperor. We have not space to give the 
arguments which he uses to prove that the object of all 
Napoleon's great enterprises was no gratification of per- 
sonal or national ambition, but the entire regeneration of 
Europe. The fatal rivalry of England, continually 
obliging him to keep his sword unsheathed, prevented 
him from realizing his project i but the reforms which 
he introduced in the conquered nations attest the gran- 
deur of his plans. He aimed at making Europe a vast 
association of states, united together by interest and 
mutual confidence, instead of the anomalous crowd of 
petty, jealous, and rival nations that is now distracting 
that division of the globe. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 129 

" Napoleonic Europe founded^" says Louis Napoleon, 
" tlie emperor would have proceeded to the establish- 
ment of peace institutions in France. He would have 
consolidated liberty. Liberty would have strengthened 
his power, because he had already established what 
should precede liberty ; because his power rested on the 
entire mass of the nation ; because his interests were 
the interests of the people ; in short, because the most 
complete confidence existed between the governor and 
the governed." 

He comes to the conclusion that the emperor would 
have incalculably enlarged the circle of elections, and 
given the chambers the widest liberty of discussion, and 
finally that the press would have been freed from all its 
shackles. *' It was not a government," he says, " re- 
splendent with civil and military laurels that could 
dread the light of day. The more moral force authority 
possesses, the less need it has of employing physical; 
the greater the power with which it is intrusted by pub- 
lic opinion, the more it can dispense with its exercise." 

" Lovers of liberty who have rejoiced at the fall of 
Napoleon," cries the nephew of the emperor, ^^ how 
fatal has been your mistake ! How many years are still 
to pass away, what struggles and sacrifices must still 
take place, before you again reach the point to which 
Napoleon had conducted you ! 

" And you, statesmen of the congress of Vienna, 
who have made yourselves masters of the world on the 
ruins of the empire, your part might have been a noble 
one, but you did not comprehend it. In the name of 
liberty, and even of license, you hounded on the nations 
against Napoleon ; you outlawed him from Europe as a 
tyrant and a despot ; you declared that you had delivered 



130 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

the nations and secured tlieir repose. They believed 
you for a moment : but nothing solid can be built on a 
lie and a blunder. Napoleon had closed the gulf of 
revolutions ; by overthrowing him you have reopened 
it. Take care lest it swallow you up." 

The next chapter is very short : it briefly and clearly 
states the causes of the emperor's fall. 

The historian Alison, most English and American 
writers, and not a few French, have given their views 
on this point, which are so well known that it is hardly 
necessary to repeat them here. Napoleon, they say, 
succumbed in 1814 because his power had taken no root 
in the hearts of the French. The nation, they add, in 
1793, could make head against all Europe, because all 
souls burned with an ardor of patriotism that could work 
miracles ; but the emperor having stifled patriotism, and 
made himself the mainspring of the state, the salutary 
enthusiasm was wanting on the day of invasion : a free 
people possesses a germ that redoubles their strength in 
the hour of danger, but an enslaved people basely sub- 
mits, or if at times they show a scintillation of courage, 
indiflerence soon extinguishes the transient meteor. It 
has been also pretended that the favors which the em- 
peror had heaped on his generals had enervated them by 
developing their egotism. The marshals, the dukes, 
the princes of his own creation, it is said, were the* first 
to betray him : they wanted to preserve their titles and 
their fortunes, even at the expense of their benefactor. 
Providence, too, had declared against the oppressor of 
liberty ; an outraged world had risen in its might ; the 
hour of retribution had arrived, &c. To us, Louis ISTa- 
poleon's theory, though rather condensed in the expres- 
sion, seems far more simple and satisfactory. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 131 

'' It was not from witliin/' lie says, " the shock came 
that overthrew the empire. The emperor, simply, had 
not time definitively to establish the system he had con- 
ceived: to appreciate its true force, it must have been 
first carried into practice. 

'^ The emperor fell because he finished his work too 
soon ; because, the events pressing upon him too rapidly, 
he conquered, so to speak, too quickly. He fell solely 
because, his projects increasing in proportion to the ele- 
ments he had at his disposal, he wished, in ten years of 
empire, to do the work of several centuries. 

'^ It is not, then, through powerlessness that the emper- 
or yielded, but through exhaustion ; and notwithstanding 
fearful reverses and numberless calamities, the French 
people always strengthened him by their sufirages, sus- 
tained him by their efforts, and encouraged him by their 
attachment. 

" It is a consolation for those that feel the blood of 
the great man flowing in their veins to think on the re- 
grets which accompanied his loss. It is a grand and 
elevating thought that it took all the efforts of combined 
Europe to tear Napoleon from this France, which he 
had rendered so great. It is not the French people, in 
their wrath, that sapped his throne ; there were required, 
twice, twelve hundred thousand strangers to break the 
imperial sceptre. 

" It is a noble funeral for a sovereign^ where a weep- 
ing country and glory in mourning for his loss accom- 
pany him to his last abode." 

In the seventh and last chapter, entitled Conclusion, 
the writer maintains that, despite the fall of the em- 
peror, despite the triumph of the old European system, 
the ideas of this mighty genius have germinated every 



132 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

where, and still inspire not only France, bur, ^he ufcLdr 
nations of Europe, with every one of their grand and 
salutary reformations. 

'' Let us ask," he says, '^ who are the greater states- 
men, those who have governed countries which have 
gained, notwithstanding their defeat, or those who have 
governed countries which have lost, notwithstanding 
their victory. 

'^ The period of the empire was a mortal war against 
the old European system. The old system triumphed ; 
but, notwithstanding the fall of Napoleon, Napoleonian 
ideas have germinated in all directions. The conquerors 
themselves have adopted the ideas of the conquered, and 
the nations are exhausting themselves in their efforts 
to restore what Napoleon had established among them. 
Let us repea,t, then, in conclusion, the Napoleonian idea 
is not an idea of war, but a social, industrial, commer- 
cial idea — an idea of humanity. If to some men it ap- 
pears always surrounded with the roar of conflict, it is 
simply because it was indeed too long enveloped in the 
smoke of cannon and the dust of battles. But now the 
clouds are dispersed, and we see through the glory of 
arms a civil glory, greater and more enduring. 

" Let the ashes of the emperor repose in peace. His 
memory spreads wider and wider every passing day. 
Each wave that breaks on the rock of St. Helena brings 
on the wind of Europe a homage to his memory, a re- 
gret to his remains ; and the echo of Longwood repeats 
over his tomb, ^The pree nations op the earth 

WILL LABOR THROUGHOUT THE EARTH TO RECONSTRUCT 
THY WORK ! ' " * 

* This, of course, was written before the removal of the emperor's re- 
mains from St. Helena. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IH. 133 

These extracts will give a sufficient general knowl- 
edge of the ability and scope of the " Ideas on Napole- 
onism." No apology is necessary for extending them 
to such a length. The little that is generally known 
in the United States about Louis Napoleon's writings, 
and the natural curiosity we must all feel to know what 
such a man would say even on a less interesting subject, 
not to mention the possibility of our gaining some in- 
sight into the tendency of his future policy from this 
open expression of his profoandest and most decided 
convictions, — these reasons would justify us for making 
even a fuller analysis of the work if space permitted. 
We can easily see that his great object all through is the 
reorganization of France on the revival of the NapoJe- 
onian system, which he pretty successfully shows to be 
the only one capable of meeting the demands, according 
with the habits and commanding the respect and sym- 
pathy, of the French nation. We can also, now, easily 
see how profoundly politicians, previously acquainted 
with his writings, must have deceived themselves, if 
they were in the least surprised that Louis Napoleon, 
once in possession of the power to carry out what he 
believed his mission, should take even extreme meas- 
ures to secure himself in his position. 

However, we are now done for some time with his 
writings. Again he thinks the time for action is come. 
He is not discouraged by the recollection of Strasburg. 
A still more ignominious failure awaits him at Boulogne, 
and £ve years' weary captivity in the fortress of Ham. 
To a detail of these events we shall devote the next 
chapters. 

12 



134 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 



CHAPTER IX. 

Wew Hopes. — The " Gapitole " projected^ hut finally aban- 
doned. — Monthly Publication^ " Uldee Napoleonienne " de- 
termined on. Extracts. — Letter to the " Times." — Louis 
Napoleon^ at the Head of sixty Men, attempts an Insurrection 
at Boulogne. — History of that Affair. — Favorable As- 
pects of Things at first. — Proclamations. 

The publication of the Ideas of Napoleonism, dunng 
his stay in England in 1839, again enkindled the zeal 
of the prince's partisans, and gave a new impulse to 
those sentiments of admiration and gratitude entertained 
by France for the mighty genius to whom she was in- 
debted for so much of her greatness and her glory. 

In an able but exceedingly prejudiced sketch of the 
life of Louis Napoleon, prefixed to a collection of his 
political and historical works published in London three 
years ago, the following paragraph occurs. It is amus- 
ing to read it at the present day. 

" Meanwhile his grateful sentiments towards the 
country which had twice afforded him an asylum, and 
was destined to do so again, did not remain unexpressed. 
He was not ashamed to boast in the presence of Eng- 
lishmen, ' I shall be Emperor of France one of these 
days, and the first thing I shall then do will be to in- 
vade England. I like you very well as a people ; but 
I must wipe out Waterloo and St. Helena.' Vain ego- 
tist ! happy for him if he do nothing to throw "Water- 
loo and St. Helena into oblivion, by a discomfiture still 
more exemplary, and a fate still more ignominious ! " 

The English writer can hardly have had good grounds 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 135 

for his indignation. Sucli expressions are altogether in- 
consistent with the habitual taciturnity of Louis Napo- 
leon. Unless absolutely necessary^ few hints concerning 
the nature of his project are ever given out before its 
execution. Stern and impenetrable, when the moment 
comes he does the deed, and all are taken by surprise. 
Victor Hugo sneeringly acknowledges ^^ his great talent 
for silence." 

About this time his friends started a journal called 
La Capitole, to sustain and propagate the Napoleonic 
principles of government, and to show the superiority 
of the institutions of the empire over those which had 
been inaugurated in 1815 or in the August of I80O. 
The prince, allured by the apparent grandeur of the 
proposed object, permitted himself to be drawn into the 
enterprise, which he found to absorb considerable sums 
of money. The publication continued for some time ; 
but as it by no means answered the expectations of its 
founders, and especially those of the emperor's nephew, 
it was finally abandoned. 

His friends then advised him to publish, instead of a 
daily paper, a weekly or monthly review, of which the 
first number appeared in July, 1840, with the title of 
L^Idee Naj)oUonienne. But a new enterprise of a dif- 
ferent nature prevented the second number from appear- 
ing, and brought this review to an abrupt termination. 

Though it delays us a little on our way, we cannot 
help presenting a few extracts from this brochure. He 
explains what he means by the Napoleonist idea. " The 
Napoleonist idea means to reconstitute French society, 
overthrown by fifty years of revolution, to conciliate 
order and liberty^ the rights of the people, and the prin- 
ciples of law. 



136 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

" Between two infuriated parties, one seeing only the 
past, the other aspiring to the future, it steps in with 
ancient forms and new principles. 

" As it builds on a solid foundation, it rests its system 
on the principle of eternal justice, and treads under foot 
the reactionary theories brought about by party ex- 
cesses. 

" It replaces the hereditary system of the old aristoc- 
racies by a hierarchical system, which, while it secures 
equality, rewards merit, and guarantees order. 

" It disciplines democracy, and renders her an instru- 
ment of strength and stability. 

" It makes liberty an element of its strength, because 
it judiciously prepares for its reign, by laying broad 
foundations before erecting the edifice. 

" It neither follows the inconsistent way of party, 
nor the passions of the mob ; it commands through 
reason, and leads because it is able to go in advance. 

" Soaring above political coteries, exempt from all na- 
tional prejudices, it looks upon the French as brothers 
easily reconciled, and on the different nations of Europe 
as the members of a great family. 

" It does not advance by exclusion, but by reconcilia- 
tion, and unites the nation instead of dividing it. It 
gives to each one the place due to him, the office he 
' deserves according to his capability and his actions, with- 
out taking heed of his opinions or his political antece- 
dents. Having no desire but for the public good, it seeks 
no artificial means to support an insecure power, but 
only for means to advance the prosperity of the country. 

" It looks only at deeds, and hates useless words. It 
executes in one year measures which others would dis- 
cuss for ten years. It sails boldly across the ocean of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 137 

civilization, instead of remaining in a muddy pond to 
waste its time by trying its sails. 

"^ The Xapoleonist idea, conscious of its strength, re- 
jects corruption, flattery, and falsehood, the vile auxilia- 
ries of weakness. Though it expects every thing from 
the people, it does not flatter them ; it despises the 
phrases with which democracy flatters the masses to rally 
round it petty sympathies, imitating the courtiers who 
flattered the king in hi§ old age by praising merits which 
he no longer possessed. Its object is not to create a 
temporary popularity, by exciting half-forgotten hatreds, 
and by flattering dangerous passions. It speaks candid- 
ly to every one, to king and to citizen, to rich and to 
poor. It praises or blames as actions are praiseworthy 
or blamable. 

" The Napoleonist idea has long since found favor 
with the people, because with them feeling precedes 
reason, and the heart feels before the mind conceives. 
When Christianity first appeared, the nations adopted 
it long before they understood its morality. The influ- 
ence of a great genius, like the influence of the Divinity, 
spreads like electricity ; it fires the imagination, inspires 
the hearts, and charms because it touches the soul before 
persuading it." 

In an article on " Exile " he bitterly laments the 
misery of an existence in a foreign land. " You," he 
writes, '^whom happiness has made selfish, who have 
never suffered the torments of exile, — you think it light 
punishment to rob men of their country. Know that 
exile is a continual martyrdom ; that it is death, but not 
the glorious death of those who fall for their country, 
nor the sweeter death of those whose life was spent 
amid the charms of infancy, but a death of consump- 



138 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tion, slow and terrible^ which 1111(16111111163 you, and leads 
you noiselessly and unnoticed to a desert tomb. 

"In exile, the air you breathe suffocates you, and 
you live only on the faint breeze which comes from the 
distant shores of the land of your birth. 

" A stranger to your countrymen, who have forgotten 
you, — - a stranger among those with whom you live, — 
you are like a plant brought from a foreign clime, which 
fades for want of a handful of earth in which it can 
take root. 

" An exile may find generous souls and enlightened 
characters in the stranger's land, who will endeavor to 
be kind and considerate towards him ; but friendship, 
the harmony of hearts, he meets with nowhere, for it 
must be based on mutual feelings and interests ; even 
the kindness rendered him will lose its charms, for it 
will all savor of charity. 

" O thou exile, thou true Pariah of modern society, 
if you would not have your heart broken every moment, 
you must, as Horace says, infold yourself in your vir- 
tues, and, armed in threefold armor, be inaccessible to 
the emotions which lurk behind each step of life. 

" Be wary of every step you take, of every word you 
utter, and of every sigh which escapes from your breast ; 
for men are paid to falsify your actions, to misrepresent 
your words, and to give a meaning to your sighs. 

" Happy are they whose life is spent among their 
fellow-citizens, and who, having served their country 
with glory, die on the spot where they were cradled. 
But woe to those, who, beaten by the waves of fate, are 
condemned to a wandering, aimless existence, without 
charms ; and who, after having been every where in the 
way, die in a foreign land, without a friend to weep over 
their tomb." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 139 

The motto to this publication was, — 

" Not only the ashes, but also the ideas of the em- 
peror, must be brought back." 

As before mentioned, only One number of this work 
appeared, a new enterprise promising a speedier accom- 
plishment of the object he ever held in view. 

Louis Napoleon never forgot what he considered his 
destiny. Watching his opportunity, and waiting his 
hour, he prepared himself, as we have seen, by the most 
serious labors, for the exalted functions which he was 
convinced he should in course of time be called upon 
to fulfil. But he was very cautious of acting before 
what he believed to be the decisive moment. He took 
no part whatever in the insurrection of Barbes, May, 
1839. As might be expected, he did not the less escape 
the imputation of having excited the disturbance, and in 
justice to himself he addressed the following letter to 
the editor of the Times to repel the calumny : — 

'' Sir : I observe in your Paris correspondence that an 
attempt is made to cast upon me the responsibility of 
the late insurrection. I rely on your kindness to refute 
this accusation in the most formal manner. The news 
of the sanguinary scenes which have just taken place 
has equally surprised and afflicted me. If I were the 
soul of a conspiracy, I should also be the leader of it, 
in the day of danger. I should not deny it after a 
defeat." 

That this was no idle boast he proved by his audacious 
attempt at Boulogne, which, as is well known, took 
place in August, 1840. 

At this period circumstances assumed what might be 
regarded a rather favorable appearance for enterprises 
of this nature. The most thrilhng recollections of the 



140 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

glories of tlie empire liad been evoked by the genius of 
one of tbe greatest of modern Frencli poets^ by the 
brilliant pages of Thiers, and other eminent historians, 
and even by the very policy of the government of July. 
A law had recently passed the chambers to bring back 
to France the ashes of the great man still reposing at 
St. Helena, and one of the sons of Louis Philippe, the 
Prince de Joinville, had been appointed to put it into ex- 
ecution.* The frigate La Belle Poule was equipped 
for this purpose. The remains of the emperor were at 
last to be deposited, as his dying wish expressed it, " on 
the banks of the Seine, in the midst of that French 
people he had loved so well." 

This resolution called forth a very general excitation 
of feeling. The press of Paris and of the departments 
was full of the most enthusiastic articles on the subject. 
In the general delirium it looked as if the emperor 
himself were returning to Paris ; and the days were 
impatiently counted that were still to elapse before the 
arrival of those precious remains of the exile of Long- 
wood. 

In this state of things Louis Napoleon might, without 
too much presumption, one would think, found some 
hopes on an enthusiasm, the expression of which, as 
heartfelt as it was unanimous, appeared to open a par- 
ticular road to his projects. 

He resolved to act. 

About one o'clock of the morning of Thursday, Au- 

* " It is asserted, with much probability of truth, that Louis Philippe, in 
thus taking, before Europe, the initiative of the removal of the emperor's 
remains, only anticipated by a few days a motion of the great Irish agi- 
tator, O' Conn ell, who, in the House of Commons, was about to ask the 
English government to restore the ashes of the prisoner of St. Helena." — 
Histoire de Napoleon III., par Paul Lacroix, tome ii. p. 140. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 141 

gust 6, 184:0, as an officer of the customs_, named Audi- 
net, and his two assistants, were watching at their post, 
they became aware of a steamboat lying at anchor, right 
opposite them, in the sea, at about the distance of a 
mile. It was the packet boat the Castle of Edinburgh. 
The situation at first excited little attention, and they 
thought, it an English steamer, waiting for despatches. 
But about two o'clock, Audinet seeing a boat full of pas- 
sengers detach itself from the vessel and make for the 
shore, he hastened towards the spot which they seemed 
desirous of reaching, and, as soon as they were within 
hailing distance, asked who they were. " We are," was 
the reply, " soldiers of the fortieth of the line. We are 
proceeding from Dunkirk to Cherbourg ; but we land 
here because a wheel of our boat is broken." 

The custom house officer saw, in truth, fifteen soldiers, 
of different grades, in the boat, and conceived no sus- 
picion ; but as soon as all had landed, he and his two 
assistants were immediately surrounded by the strangers, 
and threatened with death in case of resistance. Then 
the boat returned to the steamer, and made three suc- 
cessive voyages to land the rest of the party. In the 
interval, five other custom house men, going their 
rounds, were also arrested, but neither maltreated nor 
even disarmed. 

During the landing, four men, coming from Boulogne, 
arrived on the scene, embraced several of the soldiers, 
and two of them receiving officers' uniform, invested 
themselves therewith immediately. In the mean time. 
Bally, lieutenant of the customs, informed of the arrival 
of the packet boat, but supposing that it was attempting 
only some trifling infraction of the sanitary laws, was 
coming from Boulogne to investigate the matter. The 



142 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

moment^ however, he entered Vimereux, a little village 
in the immediate neighborhood of the landing-place, he 
saw five or six officers advancing towards him, who de- 
manded his name. On his reply that he was chief offi- 
cer of the custom house, they told him to turn back, 
and guide them to Boulogne. Resistance was useless. 
The detachment consisted of thirty men, dressed as pri- 
vate soldiers, wearing the uniform of the fortieth of the 
line, and of thirty others, wearing the insignia and uni- 
forms of officers of all grades. 

Before departing there was some discussion among the 
officers as to the road they were to take : the majority at 
first seemed to prefer the shore ; but the gentlemen that 
had come from Boulogne recommending the road by the 
pillar, their advice prevailed. The troop formed and 
commenced to march. The custom house men had to 
accompany them as guides, or, rather, that nothing dan- 
gerous should be left in the rear. In vain did their 
chief. Bally, express a desire to be allowed to remain at 
Vimereux; he was obliged to march as well as the 
others. 

As soon as the band reached the pillar, they lowered 
their standards before this monument, erected in honor 
of the imperial army, in 1809, and- continued their 
march. A general officer, seeing Bally speak with one 
of his men, came up and told him not to talk ; adding, 
^' Don't you know it is Prince Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte that is at our head ? Boulogne is ours, and in a 
few days he will be proclaimed emperor by the nation 
that desires him, and the French ministry that expects 
him." 

'' All that you tell me," replied the custom house offi- 
cer, " renders my position and that of my assistants 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 143 

mucli more critical tlian I liad tlioiiglit it at first ; I now 
beg of you, since you see Boulogne,, and the straight 
road before you, let me and my men return to our post." 

The general refused; but when they had come within 
a few hundred steps of the gate. Bally addressed the 
prince himself, who told him that they might return to 
Vimereux, but on condition that they go there directly, 
and tell no one a word of what had taken place. The 
custom house men departed with their chief; four armed 
soldiers followed them, keeping them in observation as 
far as the pillar. Before separating, a superior oiSScer 
had approached Bally, and offered him a handful of 
gold, which offer, however^ he indignantly rejected. 

In the mean time, the conspirators, at whose head 
marched two men wearing the uniform of lieutenants gen- 
eral, and another of shorter stature, wearing the em- 
peror's usual dress, presented themselves at the gate of 
the grand rue, waving the tri-colored standard sur- 
mounted by the imperial eagle, and shouting " Vive VEm- 
pereur ! " "Without delay they marched towards the 
barracks, then occupied by a part of the forty -second 
regiment of the line. 

Prince Louis Napoleon, accompanied by General 
Count Montholon, Colonel Voisin, Colonel Bouffe Mon- 
tauban, his faithful friend Commandant Parquin, M. de 
Persigny, and about fifty others, soon arrived at the quar- 
ters of the forty-second. There the soldiers received him 
with the wildest enthusiasm. Silence could hardly be 
obtained ^ to read the following proclamation : " Sol- 
diers ! Prance is made to command, and she obeys. 
You are the elite of the people, and you are treated like 
a vile herd. iTou are made to protect the national honor, 
and it is against your brothers that you turn your arms. 



144 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Those who rule you would degrade the noble profession 
of soldier. You have been indignant, and have asked 
yourselves, " What has become of the eagles of Areola, of 
Austerlitz, of Jena ? " Here are those eagles ! I restore 
them to you : take them back : with them you shall 
have glory, honor, fortune, and what is more than all, 
the gratitude and esteem of your fellow-countrymen. 

'' Soldiers ! between you and me there are indissolu- 
ble ties : we have the same objects of hatred and love, 
the same interests and the same enemies. 

*^ Soldiers ! the mighty shadow of Napoleon speaks to 
you in my voice. Hasten, whilst it crosses the ocean, to 
send away those traitors and oppressors, and show him 
at his arrival that you are the worthy children of the 
Grand Army, and that you have resumed those sacred 
emblems which for twenty years appalled the enemies 
of France, amongst whom were those that are ruling 
you to-day. 

" Soldiers ! to arms ! Vive la France ! " 

This proclamation was signed Napoleon, and coun- 
tersigned by General Montholon, acting as major gen- 
eral. Colonel VoisiN, deputy major general, and Com- 
mandant Meson AN, chief of the staff. 

New shouts and protestations of devotion greeted the 
prince on the reading of this document : the soldiers, 
almost frantic in their attachment to the old cause, took 
him up on their shoulders and bore him in triumph 
around the court yard. An officer of the forty-second. 
Lieutenant Aladenize, who had been already gained 
over, and who had returned from St. Omer the previous 
evening to cooperate in the enterprise, exerted himself 
with great success among the insurgents. Things looked 
very favorable. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 145 

In the mean time an appeal was being made to the in- 
habitants of Boulogne by means of a proclamation that 
was scattered in great profusion among them ; for num- 
bers a\vakened_, and attracted by the tumult_, were throng- 
ing the streets at this early hour. This proclamation 
was thus conceived : — 

" Inhabitants of the department of Pas-de-Calais and 
of Boulosfne ! 

o 

" Followed by a little band of brave men I have land- 
ed on French soil, from which an unjust law had ban- 
ished me. Do not apprehend any temerity ; I come to 
assure the destinies of France, not to compromise them. 
I have powerful friends abroad as well as here, who have 
promised me their support. The signal is given, and 
soon all France, and Paris especially, shall rise in mass 
to trample under foot ten years of falsehood and igno- 
miny ; for all the cities and villages are to bring the 
government to an account for the private interests which 
it has abandoned, the general interests it has betrayed. 

" See your ports almost deserted, your ships rotting 
on the shore : look at your industrious artisans without 
food to nourish their children, because government has 
not had the courage to protect your commerce ; look at 
this, and cry out with me, ^ Traitors, disappear ! the Na- 
poleonic spirit, which thinks only of the happiness of 
the people, is advancing to confound you ! ' 

" Inhabitants of the Pas-de-Calais, do not dread that 
the ties that attach you to your neighbors beyond the 
water shall be broken. The mortal remains of the em- 
peror and the imperial eagle return from exile only with 
sentiments of love and reconciliation. Two great na- 
tions should understand each other, and the glorious 
13 



146' LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

pillar which boldly advances into the sea shall become 
an atoning monument of all our past hatreds. 

'^City of Boulogne J which Napoleon loved so much, 
you are about to be the first ring in a chain that is to 
unite all civilized nations ; your glory shall be imper- 
ishable, and France v/ill decree offerings of thanks to 
those generous men who were the first to salute with 
their acclamations the standard of Austerlitz. 

'^ Inhabitants of Boulogne^ come to me, and have 
confidence in the providential mission bequeathed to me 
by the martyr of St. Helena. From the top of the pil- 
lar of the great army 5 the genius of the emperor watches 
us and favors our efforts, because they have but one ob- 
ject — the happiness of France." 



CHAPTER X, 

The Attempt at Boulogne, continued. — It is completely frus- 
trated. — Firmness of Captain Colonel Puygellier. — At- 
tempted Retreat also fails. — Louis Napoleon and all his 
Folloiuers captured. — The Steamboat. — Exciteinent in 
Paris. — TJie Princeh Proclamation to the French People, 
— His " Decree.'' — He and his Accomplices brought for 
Trial before the Court of Peers. 

When we left Louis Napoleon in the barrack yard, 
surrounded by the soldiers of the forty-second, enthusi- 
astically shouting their devotion, and ready to follow 
wherever he led, his affairs bore a very promising as- 
pect ; for had he succeeded in inducing the garrison of 
Boulogne to attend him to St. Omer, and had he met 
the same success there, such was the Napoleonic excite- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 147 

ment throughout France generally at that period, that 
some think Louis Philippe's reign would have come to a 
termination still more premature than befell it on the 
22d of February. But again the stars were unfavor- 
able. Just as the soldiers were rushing towards the gate 
they were checked in their career by the sight of their 
commanding officer. Captain Colonel Puygellier. Every 
effort had been previously made. to seduce this man from 
the cause of the government, but in vain ; as a last re- 
source it had been resolved to remove him to another 
command, where in fact it was believed he really was 
at the moment he thus unexpectedly made his appear- 
ance. His presence produced an immediate change in 
matters. His soldiers, accustomed to discipline, stopped, 
dismayed and irresolute, before his energetic commands. 
In the general alarm the civic authorities were assem- 
bling the National Guards. Louis Napoleon, seeing 
there was not a moment to be lost, advanced to the cap- 
tain, and, as the latter afterwards related the affair, cried 
out, " Captain, join us and you shall have all you de- 
sire." 

Colonel Puygellier replied, " Prince Louis — for you 
may be he, though I don't know you — Napoleon, your 
predecessor struck down legitimacy ; it is wrong for you 
to try to restore it. Leave the barracks." He ordered 
his soldiers to drive out the intruders : much struggling 
and confusion was the conseq^uence. A pistol in the 
hands of the prince went off, it is said by accident, and 
wounded a poor soldier who was at the very moment 
shouting ''Vive Napoleon III. ! " His companions, com- 
pelled to retire before superior numbers, hearing the 
discharge, made a movement of opposition, when Lieu- 
tenant Aladenize, dreading a murderous tumult, cried 



148 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. ^ 

out, " Do not resist ; tlie prince forbids you to use your 
arms. Eespect the officers ; spare tlie soldiers ; let there 
be no bloodshed." The National Guards came running 
up. All was lost. Louis Napoleon and his adherents, 
convinced of the inutility of further efforts, left the bar- 
racks with the intention of making a rapid retreat to 
the steamer. But on coming within sight of the gate 
of Grande Eue, by which they had entered, they found 
it closed, and defended by several bodies of the Nation- 
al Guards. "Without losing a moment, however, the 
prince charged them so fiercely with his little band, that 
he cut his way through them, opened the gate, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching the pillar, already so much spoken 
of, called the Colonne de Napoleon, on a height near the 
shore. Here he planted the standard, and made a halt 
to collect his scattered followers, and perhaps to consult 
on what plan to take after the evil success of his 
attempt. 

He had little time to deliberate. The city, now 
thoroughly roused, had recovered from the state of in- 
action into which it had been thrown by the strangeness 
and audacity of the enterprise. The National Guard 
had taken arms ; the brigade of gendarmerie had been 
assembled ; the soldiers of the forty second, with the 
usual instability of a mob, had returned to their al- 
legiance. Orders were immediately given to pursue 
the conspirators, who were soon overtaken near the 
Column of Napoleon. Resistance was perfectly fu- 
tile. They scattered in all directions, the greater part 
making for the boat. Louis Napoleon maintained his 
ground for some time, exclaiming, " All is lost ; there 
is nothing left but death ; " until his friends, disregard- 
ing his struggles, seized him and carried him to a boat. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 149 

to have him conveyed to the steamer, which they still 
saw in the offing. 

Henry de Puy, a vigorous writer, and, where his 
religious prejudices do not interfere, generally impartial 
and trustworthy, in his interesting work published at 
Buffalo a few years ago, entitled " Louis Napoleon and 
the Bonapartes" thus concludes this scene : — 

'^ They pushed off, and made desperate efforts to reach 
the steamer, little dreaming that it had already, with all 
its treasures, fallen into the hands of the government. 
They were but a few rods from the shore, when the 
National Guard overtook them, and, though seeing them 
unarmed and entirely exposed, opened a galling fire 
upon them. Here a touching incident occurred, which 
gave a new turn to the melancholy affair, and brought 
it to a quick and tragic consummation. A brave old 
soldier. Colonel Mesonan, arrived after the boat had left, 
and being hotly pursued, threw himself into the surf, 
and made great exertions to overtake his friends. He 
had swam a considerable distance, amid a shower of fire, 
and had nearly reached them, when his strength began 
to fail, and he was about to sink. Efforts were made to 
rescue him ; but he cried out, ^ Push on ; save the prince, 
and leave me to my fate.' Escaping from the grasp of 
his friends, who were endeavoring to keep him out of 
danger, the prince, wholly regardless of the risk, laid 
hold of his faithful old partisan, and endeavored to 
drag him in. In the attempt the boat was upset, and 
the whole party were precipitated into the water. This 
painful event, instead of awakening the humanity of those 
on shore, who disgraced the uniform they wore, only 
seemed to renew their zeal. They fired volley after 
volley on the unfortunate band, whose numbers were 
13* 



150 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

rapidly diminished. Some were shot, others drowned ; 
but the prince succeeded in reaching the shore^ where 
he stood unshrinkingly up, folded his arms, and, facing 
his enemy, calmly awaited his death blow. Two of his 
friends. Count d'Hunin, and M. Faure, faithful to the 
last, were shot dead at his side. Colonel Yoisin rushed 
forward to protect him, and received several balls in 
different parts of his body. M. Galveni^ a Pole, in 
attempting the same thing, fell grievously wounded. 
The prince himself was struck by two balls, in the arm 
and in the leg, but the injuries were not serious. When, 
at length, the National Guard of Boulogne saw that 
every man was down, and that the prince, perfectly un- 
armed, was standing a tranquil target for their murder- 
ous aim, they plucked up resolution enough to approach 
and seize him. The ensuing- day he was conveyed to 
Paris, and all along the road received the warmest marks 
of sympathy and regret. In every garrison town the 
soldiers collected in groups about his carriage, and in 
their varied expressions of grief and anger might be 
traced the strength of their attachment and the bitter- 
ness of their disappointment." 

General Yoisin, Colonel Bouffe Montaubon, M. de 
Persigny, Colonel Mesonan, (whose escape from death 
was miraculous,) General Montholon, Commandant Par- 
quin, and nearly all the others, fifty-two in number, 
were arrested at the same time, and imprisoned in the 
fortress. Many of the prisoners, when questioned, de- 
clared they were servants of Prince Louis. In fact, the 
prince had invested in uniform all the domestics attached 
to his household. 

The steamer proved a rich prize to the custom house 
officers. They found among its contents two carriages^ 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 151 

ten horses^ a tame eagle, a considerable sum of money, 
(nearly half a million of francs — $100,000,) and a thou- 
sand muskets of English, manufacture. The steamboat 
itself belonged to a London company, that in place of 
instructions had said to the captain, " We do not know 
where you are to go ; but wherever you are directed to, 
proceed there at once. Prepare to receive fifty or sixty 
passengers." They were themselves probably not aware 
of its destination. It had not been chartered either by 
the prince himself or by any of his known agents or 
friends, but by a very respectable London broker. He 
hired the vessel, he said, to take a company of gentle- 
men on an excursion down the Channel, and along the 
southern coast of England. The news of these events 
reached Paris next morning. The sensation may be 
imagined. The government immediately set investiga- 
tions on foot to discover if, as might be suspected, the 
ramifications of Louis I^apoleon's new attempt had ex- 
tended to the capital. Mandates of arrest were imme- 
diately issued against many persons distinguished for 
their Bonapartist sympathies, and especially against a 
lady of high rank, Madame Salvage de Fagerolles, for- 
merly maid of honor to Queen Hortense, and recently 
arrived from London. But this lady was set at liberty 
next day. 

All the mandates were put into execution except one 
— that against Colonel Vaudrey, of Strasburg memory, 
who escaped arrest through a rather odd circumstance. 
The commissary of police, bearing the warrant, present- 
ed himself at the house of M. Perier, brother-in-law of 
the colonel, in the Pue de Tournon, where the latter 
was known to reside. He was introduced into a room 
where he saw Madame Vaudrey conversing with a gen- 



152 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tleman^ whom lie tlie more readily took for her husband^ 
as he seemed to be quite at home, and his appearance 
corresponded pretty closely with the description con- 
tained in the warrant. Having made known his com- 
mission, he asked the gentleman positively if he were 
the colonel. 

^^Let ns see your mandate, sir," was the evasive reply. 

After looking over it a while, the gentleman declared 
himself ready. 

They descended the stairs, got into a carriage, and 
it was only when they were entering the prefecture 
that the prisoner declared he was not the colonel, but 
only M. Perier, Madame Yaudrey's brother. The com- 
missary made sure, however, to hold on to his man. 
The colonel himself, having heard the commissary ar- 
rive, had passed into an adjoining chamber, and con- 
trived to make his escape. It was soon discovered, 
however, that M. Perier could not be inculpated in this 
affair. 

It was also reported that M. Laity, to whom, as we 
know, the part which he had taken in the attempt at 
Strasburg, and his recent condemnation before the Court 
of Peers, had given a kind of celebrity, had also been 
arrested at Boulogne. Put he had been far more agree- 
ably occupied. Having obtained permission from the 
government to leave his prison for a short time to re- 
ceive his income of 20,000 francs, which, as will be re- 
membered, an old general had bequeathed to him, he 
had gone to Lyons for the purpose, and had been closely 
enough attended there to remove very soon all suspicion 
of his having been in any other direction. 

But let us return to Boulogne. 

Besides the proclamations already given, the conspira- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 153 

tors had taken care to spread two others, more definite- 
ly announcing the views and projects of the leader of 
the enterprise; though it must be acknowledged that 
Louis Napoleon's spirited eloc[uence with which they 
were all written excited great admiration at the time. 

The first of these two proclamations, addressed to the 
Tronch people, was as follows : — 

'^ Frenchmen ! 

" The ashes of the emperor must return only to a re- 
generated France ! The remains of the great man 
must not be profaned by false and hypocritical homages ! 
Glory and Liberty must be found standing beside the 
coffin of NajDoleon ! Traitors to our country must dis- 
appear ! 

" Banished from my country, if I were the only one 
unhappy I should not complain. But the honor and 
glory of the country are also in exile. Frenchmen, we 
shall all return together ! To-day, as I did three years 
ago, I come to devote myself to the popular cause. If 
an accident made me fail at Strasburg, an Alsatian, jury 
proved that I had not much miscalculated. 

" What have those that govern you done to possess 
any claims on your love ? They promised you peace, 
and they have brought upon you civil commotions and 
the disastrous war of Africa ; they promised a diminu- 
tion of the taxes, and all the gold you possess would not 
glut their avidity ; they promised you a pure adminis- 
tration, and they reign only by corruption ; they prom- 
ised you liberty, and they protect only privileges and 
abuses ; they promised you stabiHty, and in ten years 
they have established nothing. In short, they promised 
to defend conscientiously our honor, our rights, our in- 
terests, and they have on all occasions sold our honor. 



154 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

abandoned our riglits, betrayed our interests! It is 
time such iniquities should come to an end ; it is time 
to go and ask them what they have done with the grand, 
generous, unanimous France of 1830 ! Farmers, they 
have laid on you during peace heavier taxes than Napo- 
leon ever demanded during war. Manufacturers and 
merchants, your interests have been sacrificed to foreign 
exigencies ; they use the gold in corruption which the 
emperor employed to encourage your efforts and to en- 
rich yourselves. Finally, all you classes, industrious 
and poor, who are in France the refuge of all noble sen> 
timents, remember that it was amongst you Napoleon 
chose his lieutenants, his marshals, his ministers, his 
princes, his friends. Give me your support, and let us 
show the world that neither you nor I have degenerated. 

^^ I entertained a hope, as did you, that v/ithout revo- 
lution we might be able to correct the evil influences of 
the government ; but to-day no more hope. In ten 
years they have changed the ministry ten times ; and 
they may change it ten times over again, and the griev- 
ances and the miseries of the country would still continue 
the same. 

'' When one has the honor to be at the head of such 
a people as the French, there is one infalUble means to 
accomplish great things ; and that is, to will it. 

" In France, at this moment, there is nothing but 
violence on one side and license on the other ; I will 
restore order and liberty. By surrounding myself with 
the most eminent men in the country, without exception 
or favor, and by leaning for support only on the wishes 
and interests of the masses, I mean to found an inde- 
structible edifice. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 155 

'' I mean to give France real alliances, a solid peace, 
and not to fling her into the chances of a general war, 

" Frenchmen ! I see before me the brilliant future 
of my country. I feel behind me the shade of the em- 
peror impelling me onward ; I shall not halt until I shall 
have recovered the sword of Austerlitz, restored the 
eagles to our standards, and reestablished the people in 
their rights. 

" Vive la France I Napoleon. 

" Boulogne, 1840." 

This document is curious enough to read at the pres- 
ent day, (1855.) Both the evils to be removed and the 
good to be effected are pointed out in very distinct 
terms. It is not easy to imagine that the Emperor 
of Prance can totally ignore such a pledge of the past. 
Of such engagements, however, as we have marked 
wdth Italics, we must say, to promise is easier than to 
perform. 

The following paper was his sovereign 

" DECREE. 

"^ Prince Napoleon, in the name of the French peo- 
ple, decrees as follows : — 

^^ The dynasty of the Bourbons of Orleans has ceased 
to reign. 

" The French people have resumed their rights. The 
troops are released from their oath of allegiance. The 
Chamber of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies are dis- 
solved. 

" A national congress shall be convoked on the arrival 
of Prince Napoleon at Paris. 



156 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

'^ M. Thiers^ president of the council, is appointed at 
Paris president of the provisional government. 

" Marshal Clausel is appointed commander-in-chief 
of the troops assembled at Paris. 

^' General Pajol preserves the command of the first 
military division. 

^' All the commanders who will not immediately con- 
form with his orders shall be removed. 

" All the officers,, subalterns, and soldiers, who will 
energetically display their sympathy for the national 
cause shall be nobly recompensed in the name of their 
country. 

" God protect France ! 

*^ Napoleon." 

The other prisoners were brought up to Paris without 
delay ; but Louis Napoleon v/as transferred to the Castle 
of Ham, to be deprived of all communication with his 
acipomplices. This time, of course, he was to stand his 
trial under a common charge. Government was willing 
that justice should take its course with regard to the 
accused, only in place of trying them before the Court 
of Assizes of the Pas-de-Calais, conformably to what had 
been done after the affair of Strasburg, it was decided 
to surrender them to the jurisdiction of the Court of 
Peers. Accordingly a royal ordinance, which denomi- 
nated the event at Boulogne as an attempt against the safe- 
ty of the state, was issued on the 9th of August, to 
convoke the Court of Peers, and to give them charge of 
the affair. 

They met on the 16th of September to listen to the 
report of accusation drawn up and read by M. Persil. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON HI. 157 

A few sentences of this instrument may sliow its 
tone. 

" What may we not believe of those men," it began, 
" who by a surprise of Bologne, with a few officers, for 
the most part retired, with a few nameless men, unknown 
to France, and with thirty soldiers disguised as domes- 
tics, or domestics disguised as soldiers, have conceived 
the idea of seizing on the country, and establishing, in 
the name of the people and of liberty, under the eegis 
of a renown placed at too lofty a height for any other 
to succeed it, the copy of a government which enabled 
us, it is true, to collect ample harvests of glory, but 
which never entitled itself to our gratitude for any ardent 
love of liberty or equality, or for any profound respect for 
the rights of citizens ? Different times, different wants. 
"What might have been good, what might have been de- 
manded by inexorable necessity, in the first years of the 
nineteenth century, when interior dissensions and the 
weight of the mightiest war ever sustained over- 
whelmed our country, would be considered to-day an 
intolerable anachronism. Civilization is advancing, and 
her progress should be enlightened by liberty, by respect 
for the rights of all, and by institutions that render arbi- 
trariness and despotism impossible." 

The regular trial did not take place till Monday, Sep- 
tember 28th. 

14 



158 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Trial for the attempted Insurrection at Boulogne. — Louis 
Napoleon's Discourse. — Exatnination of the Prisoners. — 
Testimony of the Witnesses. — Discourse of the Procurator 
General. 

The trial took place on September 28, before the 
Court of Peers, consisting of more than one hundred 
and fifty members. 

To us, who are acquainted with the nature of the rev- 
olution that has since taken place, and with the senti- 
ments to which the firm establishment of the present 
government of France is to be ascribed, the conduct of 
Louis PhiHppe's ministry in giving such publicity to 
this trial must appear to have been influenced by a love 
of justice so excessive as to be little short of folly. A 
public trial, which, whatever may be the immediate 
result, must finally prove more injurious to the accuser 
than to the accused, should hardly be resorted to by 
sound policy. Louis Napoleon and his friends could 
not have chosen a loftier stage, a tribunal more elevated, 
to announce the important objects of their enterprise. 
With what looks of interest, soon to change into those 
of admiration and sympathy, they must have been 
regarded in t^eir conspicuous position by the vast ma- 
jority of the people of France ! How deeply the pro- 
fessions and doctrines, which the accused should neces- 
sarily proclaim for their own defence, must have sunk 
into the hearts of the masses, and left there an impres- 
sion not soon to be efi'aced ! Certainly the govern- 
ment was blind not to see the inevitable result of the 
celebrity with which it surrounded an affair of this 



'life of napoleon iil 159 

nature. It gave a triumph to its enemy instead of a 
humiliation. 

The traversers were accused of having, on the 6th of 
August, 1840, made an attempt at Boulogne, with the 
intention of destroying or changing the government, or* 
of exciting the citizens to take up arms against the royal 
authority, or of enkindling civil war by inducing the 
citizens to take arms against each other. 

The chancellor, Pasquier, was president ; the govern- 
ment was represented by the procurator general, Franck 
Carre, assisted by the attorney general Boncly, and the 
substitutes, Nanquier and Glandaz. M. Berry er, the 
famous orator, appeared for the defence. 

The procurator general read the accusation, which 
related all the facts and designated the parts which each 
of the accused had taken in the enterprise. 

When this paper was read. Prince Louis Napoleon 
obtained permission to speak, and expressed himself in 
the following terms : — 

" For the first time in my life, I am permitted to lift 
my voice in Prance, and to speak freely to Prenchmen. 

" Though surrounded by guards, though fully sensible 
of the nature of the accusations I have just heard, still, 
filled with the recollections of my earliest childhood, on 
finding myself within the walls of the Senate, in the 
presence of you, gentlemen^ whom I know, I cannot 
believe that I should find it necessary to justify myself, 
or that you are willing to be my judges. A solemn op- 
portunity, however, is offered to me of explaining to 
my fellow-countrymen my conduct, my intentions, my 
projects, all that I think, all that I desire. 

" Without pride as without weakness, if I recall the 
rights deposited by the nation in the hands of my family. 



160 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III.- 

it is solely to explain the duties wliicli these rights have 
imposed -upon us all. 

^^ rifty years ago the principle of the sovereignty of 
the people was consecrated in France by the most power- 
ful revolution that ever occurred in the world ; and 
never has the national will been proclaimed so solemnly, 
never has it been confirmed by suffrages so numerous 
and so free, as on the occasion of adopting the constitu- 
tion of the empire. The nation has never revoked that 
great act of its sovereignty, and the emperor has said, 
'All that has been done without its authority is 
illegal.' 

" Do not allow yourselves, therefore, to believe that, 
surrendering myself to the impulses of personal am- 
bition, I have attempted to force a restoration of the 
imperial government on France. I have been taught 
higher lessons ; I have lived under nobler examples. 

" I am the son of a king who without regret de- 
scended from his throne when he no longer thought it 
possible to reconcile with the interests of France the 
interests of the people that he had been called upon to 
govern. 

"The emperor, my uncle, preferred abdicating the 
empire to accepting by treaty the restricted frontiers 
v/hich could not but expose France to the insults and 
menaces in which, to this day, foreign nations permit 
themselves to indulge. I have not lived a single day 
forgetful of these lessons. The unmerited and cruel 
proscription which for twenty-five years has been clog- 
ging my existence, from the foot of the throne where I 
was born, to the prison which I have just left, has been 
powerless to irritate, much less to subdue, my heart. It 
has not been able to estrange me for a single day from 



• LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 161 

the dignity, tlie glory, or the interests of France. My 
conduct, my interests, explain themselves. 

"In 1830, when the people conq^uered back their 
sovereignty, I had expected that ,the day succeeding the 
conquest would be as loyal as the conquest itself, and 
that the destinies of France were fixed forever ; but the 
country has had the sad experience of ten years to the 
contrary. I thought, therefore, that the vote of four 
millions of citizens, which had elevated my family to 
supreme power, imposed upon me the duty at least of 
making an appeal to the nation, and of inquiring what 
was its will. I even thought if, in the midst of the 
national congress which I intended to call, any preten- 
sions could make themselves heard, I would have the 
right to waken up the glorious recollections of the em- 
pire, to speak of the elder brother of the emperor, or of 
that virtuous man who before me is his worthy heir, and 
to place in contrast this France of to-day, enfeebled, 
passed over in silence at the congress of kings, with the 
France of those times, so strong at home, so powerful 
and respected abroad. To the question, ' Republic or 
monarchy ? Empire or kingdom ? ' the nation would 
have definitely re]3lied. And it is only on its free 
decision on such questions that depends the termination 
of our sorrows and of our dissensions. 

" As to my enterprise, I repeat it — I have had no 
accomplices. Alone I determined on every thing ; no 
person has known beforehand my projects, my resources, 
or my hopes. If I am guilty against any one, it is 
against my friends alone. However, let them not accuse 
me of having lightly trifled with courage and devotion 
such as theirs. They will easily comprehend the mo- 
tives of honor and prudence which did not permit me 
14 * - 



162 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

to reveal, even to them, how well-founded and strong 
were my reasons to expect success. 

" A last word, gentlemen. I represent before you a 
principle, a cause, a defeat. The principle is the sov- 
ereignty of the people ; the cause, that of the empire ; 
the defeat, that of Waterloo. The . principle you have 
recognized ; the cause you have served ; the defeat you 
would avenge. No, there is no real difference between 
you and me, and I am not willing to believe that I am 
to be sacrificed for the defection of others. 

" Representative of a political cause, I cannot accept, 
as the judge of my intentions and my acts, a political 
tribunal. Your forms impose on nobody. In the strug- 
gle now commencing there can he but one conqueror, 
one conquered. If you belong to the conqueror I have 
no justice to expect from you, and I will not accept your 
generosity." 

These words, delivered in a clear voice, with an un- 
daunted air, produced a visible sensation on the assem- 
bly. In fact, of the men called upon to judge the 
nephew of the emperor, the greater number were either 
old companions in arms of Napoleon, or old members 
of his household. 

We purpose entering pretty fully into the details of 
this celebrated trial : it is a good lesson on French 
politics. 

The chancellor commenced the examination by ques- 
tioning the prince, who persisted in affii-ming that him- 
self alone was acquainted with the secret of the enter- 
prise. Interrogated respecting the pistol scene, " I have 
already said," he replied, ^^ that there are moments when 
one cannot give an account of his intentions. When I 
saw the tumult commencing in the barracks I drew my 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 163 

pistol ; it went off without my wishing to direct it 
against any one whomsoever." 

To all questions tending to compromise his friends, 
the prince replied simply, that he considered it his duty 
to be silent on these points, for he did not wish to 
change his part of accused into that of accuser. His 
greatest care seems to have been to exonerate those who 
had followed him. 

'^ How did you procure the uniforms that so many of 
your friends wore ? " he was asked. 

" I had requested these gentlemen," he answered, 
'' pretending I was going to a ball, to bring their uni- 
forms along, and most of them did so without suspicion." 

" Do you recognize these proclamations, this decree, 
this order of the day ? " 

" I do. I wrote them all myself." 

" Besides your own, they bear the signatures of three 
of the accused ; was it with the consent of these per- 
sons, or unknown to them, that their names were affixed 
to these papers ? " 

" It was done without their knowledge." 

" One, of these papers just read, entitled the Decree, 
proclaims the fall of the reigning dynasty, the dissolu- 
tion of the chambers, and the establishment of a pro- 
visional government. Personages occupying a high rank 
in the state are mentioned by name in these writings. 
How is it you did not understand that it was not your 
part to seize on such names without permission, and 
especially to use them for such a purpose ? " 

" In having recourse to men of the noblest faculties 
who did not concur in my opinions I gave a proof of my 
feelings. I wished to take men as my ministers who 
had the ability to serve the country, regardless of their 
antecedents." 



164 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

After a multitude of such questions, to wHcli the 
prince gave ready repHes, General Montholon was next 
called up for examination. 

According to the disclosures made by the seized pa- 
pers, it was this general who, by virtue of high qualifi- 
cations, was, as chief of the staff, to hold the direction 
of the military affairs. The maturity of his age, (he was 
fifty-five years old,) his experience, and still more his 
well-known devotion to the emperor, whom he had fol- 
lowed to St. Helena, — every consideration induced the 
supposition that his example would operate powerfully 
on the army, and perhaps on the people. He was then 
to be one of the principal instruments in the enterprise, 
and whatever Prince Louis Napoleon may have been pre- 
vailed upon by his lawyers to assert to the contrary, it is 
extremely difiicult to suppose that the general had not 
been most fully and unreservedly admitted into his con- 
fidence. 

Nothing important could be got out of the examina- 
tion of General Montholon. 

General Yoisin, likewise, gave very little information. 
He had entertained much respect and friendship for the 
prince. He had learned his project only when it was 
too late to retire ; all through he had acted only in obe- 
dience to the commands of Prince Louis Napoleon. 

The same system of defence was adopted by Com- 
mandant Mesonan, and in fact by all the others, except 
Lombard and Persigny. These men, far from seeking 
to extenuate their acts, declared that when they saw the 
savage resistance of Captain Colonel Puygellier, their 
first thought had been to kill him ; and they would as- 
suredly have done so but for the positive orders not to 
shed blood, which they had previously received from the 
prince. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 165 

The witnesses were then called for the prosecution. 

They detailed circumstantially, and with little varia- 
tioU;, the events as we gave them in the last chax^ter. In 
addition, a soldier of the forty-second swore that he saw 
a chief officer throw money to the citizens to make them 
shout Vive VEmpereur 1 

One of the most interesting witnesses was the grena- 
dier Joseph Geoffrey : this was the soldier who had been 
wounded in the mouth with the pistol shot. After his 
deposition, which offered nothing remarkable, the presi- 
dent asked Louis Napoleon if he had any observation to 
make. 

" I have nothing to say," replied the prince, '^ but 
that I deeply regret having wounded a French soldier, 
even by chance, and that I am very happy the accident 
has not been attended by more disagreeable conse- 
quences." 

Major Colonel Puygellier, (he was no longer captain,) 
having been promoted to the rank of major for his fidel- 
ity, repeated what he had declared in his first deposi- 
tions, with some modifications of the scene that had ta- 
ken place in the barrack yard. " As I was crying out 
to my men. ^ You are betrayed — vive le roi/^' testified 
the major, " I saw the conspirators again enter the bar- 
rack gate in close ranks. I remember that the man at 
the left of the line was he who had wished to present 
me to Prince Louis, and at the other end was General 
Montholon. I advanced some steps, and addressing 
myself directly to the prince, I told him to retire, or 1 
would employ force, adding, ^ So much the worse for you 
if I do.' Scarcely had I pronounced these words when 
I heard a shot fired, and almost immediately afterwards 
saw the conspirators make a retrograde movement. I 



166 LIFE OF NAPOLEON ni. 

followed tliem closely and prudently to the gate, whicli, 
"when they had passed through, I ordered to be immedi- 
ately closed." 

Sub-Lieutenant Laferriere related what had taken 
place on the shore, and pointed out the individuals that 
had fired so barbarously and uselessly on the un- 
armed companions of the prince. They were ten of his 
o.wn men, who had acted in positive disobedience to his 
commands, and a few of the National Guards, who had 
carried their zeal to too great an excess. The sangui- 
nary act gave rise to much angry feeling at the time. 

Colonel Sansot, commander of the National Guard, 
trying to excuse his soldiers, said that they did not fire 
on unarmed men, but on men who were trying to escape. 
This subtle distinction hardly palliates an act of zeal 
much to be regretted. 

The most damaging testimony was given by General 
Magnan. He positively and circumstantially accused 
General Mesonan of having attempted, by means of a 
large bribe and great promises, to induce him to quit 
the king's service and join the standard of Prince 
Louis Napoleon. His testimony was quite clear, 
and could not be shaken. He expressed himself very 
warmly on the subject, and used some violent expres- 
sions towards the Bonaparte party ; but he is now, or was 
very lately, one of the most faithful and devoted of the 
generals of Napoleon HI. "We shall meet him again 
on an important occasion. 

The list of witnesses being exhausted, the procurator 
general, Franck Carre, summed up, necessarily estab- 
lishing the guilt of the accused. He then made some 
reflections to which the events that we have since seen 
accomplished attach some interest. He attacked the 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 167 

Napoleon party with all his might, declaring it a vain, 
senseless, objectless party, utterly disregarded in France. 

" In short," said he, " one word is sufficient to explain 
the illusions, the miscalculations, and the presumption 
of these few men, who, grouped around Louis. Bonaparte, 
compose the Napoleon party. 

" They have persuaded themselves that the splendors 
of the empire and the glories of the emperor have be- 
come, as it were, the patrimony of the Napoleon family. 
The regard of the nation for these immortal recollec- 
tions is transformed, in their opinion, into a popular 
wish, calling this family to the throne. Twenty-five 
years, however, have passed since the time when a 
throne raised by the power of a man of genius crum- 
bled beneath the wrecks of his fortune ; and these 
twenty-five years have been marked by the efforts and 
progress of a great people advancing towards liberty 
with the calm dignity of strength and the wisdom of 
experience. Tried by the misfortunes of anarchy, and 
then by those resulting from a career of conquest 
and domination, this nation wants guarantees for its 
rights ; it wishes to impose upon all a respect for inde- 
pendence and national dignity." 

After making the usual panegyric on the revolution 
of July, the procurator general continued : — 

'^ And ten years after this great revolution, it is one of 
the most memorable and significant events of our history, 
that, undismayed by the pitiable issue of two mad at- 
tempts, Louis Bonaparte comes before you, gentlemen, 
proclaiming some right, we know not what, of annihi- 
lating our institutions by his decrees, and convoking a 
national congress to organize anew the government of 
the country. It is no longer imperial legitimacy that 



168 LIFE OF NAPOLEON HI. 

he vindicates. It is not a restoration that he desires to 
estabUsh. It is a dictatorship that he wishes to seize, 
and that without the shadow of a claim, except his du- 
ty to his country, and his desire to conduct her, under 
his auspices, to better destinies ! 

" At such presumption well may we exclaim, * Who 
then are you, to put forth such extravagant pretensions ? 
Who then are you, to erect yourself into a representa- 
tive of the sovereignty of the people in this country, 
where reigns a prince whom the nation has chosen, and 
to whom she herself has given the sceptre and the 
sword ? Who then are you, to offer yourself to France 
as a representative of the empire, that epoch of glory 
and genius, you who bring so much misery on your en- 
terprises, who by your acts so often give the lie to good 
sense ? ' 

"The emperor — understand it well — could not be- 
queath the sceptre to any one, for it fell from his power- 
ful hand before his destinies were accomplished. His 
glory is the inheritance of France, and the real repre- 
sentative of the empire, in her eyes, is not you, nor the 
obscure friends whose homages surround you, and whose 
selfish interests instigate' your own ambition ; but it is 
the genius of the emperor, still living in our laws ; it is 
the men that, cherishing his traditions, and at the head 
of our armies, and in our councils, are the honor of our 
country, and the bulwarks of. that royalty that France 
has founded with her own hands." 

M. Franck Carre's swelling eloquence did not vouch- 
safe him a deep insight into futurity. Unquestionably, 
the prisoner whom he sought to overwhelm with his ve- 
hement indignation, and to extinguish with his blast- 
ing satire, understood the situation and the wants of the 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 169 

country mucli better than himself. The throne that was 
so solid was soon to fall to the dust, and the prince, to 
whom he denied all popular sympathies, was soon to be 
called on to save the country, and to give it precisely 
those very institutions which were criticised with so 
much bitterness. However, seeing that he had rather 
exceeded the bounds of legitimate attack, he recognized 
his excessive zeal somewhat, and made a kind of 
apology. 

" We have been severe towards you, Prince Louis," 
said he ; '' our mission and your crime made such to be 
my duty. But we can never forget, however, that you 
were born near a throne that was also national, and that 
you have been educated amid scenes of exile where we 
cannot interdict hope from consoling misfortune, and 
where the sorrows of the past are sweetened by the 
illusions of the future." 



CHAPTER XII. 



Co7itinuation of the Trial for the Boulogne Atteinpt. — JBer- 
ryer's Speech. — Bold Allusions. — General Montholon. — 
Barrois Speech. — Parquin. — Persigny. — Dr. Gonneau. 
— The Accused sentenced to various Terms of Imprison- 
ment. 

As was said before, the prince had engaged Berryer, 
the great orator, for his defence. In reply to the charges 
made against his client this able advocate opened very 
happily. 

"The procurator general," he began, "has just ex- 
15 



170 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

claimed^ * This is a melancholy trial, and much to be re- 
gretted.' I, too, as I contemplate the grave contest, 
cannot but feel mournful reflections swelling in my 
heart. How unhappy must that country be, where, 
within a few years, so many revolutions, successive, vio- 
lent, overthrowing one after another the laws we have 
proclaimed, established, and sworn to defend, have pro- 
duced in our minds and hearts so profound and afflict- 
ing an uncertainty with regard to the precise nature of 
our duties. Within the life of a single man we have 
bowed before a republic, an empire, a restoration, a roy- 
alty of the 9th of August. This ready acceptation of 
governments so opposite in their principles, so rapidly 
dashing each other to pieces, —is it not attended with a 
vast detriment to the strength of conscience, to the dig- 
nity of man, I will even say to the majesty of the law ? 
What a blow is struck at the dignity of Justice, gentle- 
men, when she finds herself to-day called on to condemn 
as a crime what a short time ago she was enjoined to 
protect as a duty ! " 

Continuing to pursue this idea, the counsel declared 
to the judges, that, in the personal position of Prince 
Napoleon, after the great events accomplished in France, 
(their own work,) in presence of the principles which 
themselves had proclaimed and made the law of the 
country, — the acts, the enterprise of the prince, his 
resolution in short, presented no character of criminali- 
ty which could by possibility deserve judicial punish- 
ment. " Is it a question in fact," he asked, " of inflict- 
ing on a subject convicted of rebellion the awards 
of the penal code ? Not at all. The prince has done 
more than to attack the territory, more than to render 
himself guilty of violating the French soil. He has 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 171 

come to contest the sovereignty with the honse of 
Orleans; he has entered France to claim the rights 
of sovereignty for his own family ; he has done so 
with the same title, and in accordance with the same 
political principle, as justified our present king, upon 
whose brow yourselves have placed the royal crown of 
France. 

" The principle which rules you to-day, which you" 
have exalted over all the powers of the state, is the prin- 
ciple of '94, is the principle that prevailed in the year 
VIII., is the principle in virtue of which an appeal was 
made to the nation, calling on it to declare its senti- 
ments, both regarding the consulate and the empire. At 
the adoption of the constitution of the empire, in 1804, 
four millions of votes declared that France recognized 
the inheritance in the descendants of Napoleon, or in 
the descendants of his brother Joseph, or, these failing, 
in the descendants of his brother Louis : there is his 
title ! " 

The orator grants that this hereditary claim was abol- 
ished by the Senate in 1814, but adds that against this 
the Chamber of Representatives protested, in 1815, that 
entire France protested against it, both at the Champ-de- 
Mai and by voting the additional act to the constitution 
of the empire, and that for fifteen years the greater part 
of those then listening to him had equally protested 
against it, by laboring to restore the principle of the sov- 
ereignty of the people, which the return of the house 
of Bourbon had effaced from the laws of France. 

He continues : — 

" Is the establishment of the empire then a phantom, 
gentlemen ? Is it an illusion ? Yet what it has done 
has reached throughout the world, and its effects are felt 



172 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

not only in France, bnt among all the nations of Europe. 
No, tliis establishment of the empire is no dream ! 

" The emperor is dead, and with him every thing has 
ended ! What is the meaning of this ? Are we willing 
to avow that those dynasties, founded, established, sworn 
to in the name of the national sovereignty, are to last no 
longer than the life of a single man ? Why, you attack 
the very guarantees of the power which you yourselves 
wish to defend, if you disregard the right founded by 
its consecration in the national will — a unanimous con- 
secration, far more imposing than that of 1830, for the 
entire nation was called upon for its vote." 

One is surprised that such bold expressions should be 
allowed to pass without murmurs. Nevertheless, the 
illustrious advocate was listened to in profound silence. 

" The empire fell," he continued, " and then the po- 
litical dogma on which the empire was founded also 
fell. But what have you done since ? You have re- 
stored this dogma, you have reconstituted this popular 
sovereignty on which the hereditary claims of the im- 
perial family are based. The heir is before you ; you 
are about to judge him ; in a country where all the 
powers of the state are in abeyance to the principle of 
national sovereignty, do you mean to judge him without 
questioning the country ? As long as a drop of blood 
is transmitted in this family, so long shall the claim of 
inheritance, grounded on the political principle of France, 
be transmitted too. You shall inflict punishments, ter- 
rible, unjust ; you shall be usurpers instead of judges, 
and still it will be all useless." 

From this the orator concludes that the question is 
altogether a political one ; that it is a question between 
two dynasties, and therefore not to be decided by mere 
judges. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 173 

He then reminds them how persistently the govern- 
ment itself had thought it necessary of late to reawaken 
Bonapartist sentiments. 

" The tomb of the hero is about to be opened, his 
ashes are to be transferred to Paris, where his arms are 
to be deposited in triumph over his grave. You wish 
to judge and condemn the attempt of Louis Napoleon, 
gentlemen : do you not understand what an influence 
such manifestations must have produced on the young 
prince ? 

" This necessity of reanimating in our hearts, in 
France, the recollections of the empire, the Napoleon 
sympathies, has been so great, that, during the reign of a 
prince who in former times had desired to bear arms 
against the imperial arms, and to war against him whom 
he called the Corsican usurper, the ministry has been 
obliged to say, ' He was the legitimate sovereign of the 
country.' 

" Then the young prince saw realized what still ex- 
isted only in the presentiments of the rulers. He saw 
the treaty signed at London ; he found himself in the 
midst of men plotting against France ; and you are not 
willing that this young man, rash, blind, presumptuous, 
as much as you please, but still with a heart that has 
blood in it, with a soul that has been transmitted to him, 
without consulting his resources, should have said to 
himself, ' This name that they reecho belongs to me ; 
be it mine to bear it living over these boundaries. There 
it will awaken confidence of victories ; elsewhere, terror 
of defeats. These arms are mine ; can you dispute a 
soldier's inheritance ? " 

" You are to judge him, and in order to determine 
your resolutions, and that you may the more easily con- 
15* 



174 ' LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

stitute yourselyes judges, you are told of mad projects^ 
of silly presumption. What, gentlemen, should success 
be the base of moral law, the test of right ? Whatever 
may have been the weakness, the illusion, the temerity 
of the enterprise, it is not the number of arms and sol- 
diers that you should regard; it is the right, it is the 
principles, in virtue of which it has been undertaken. 
Of this right, of these principles, you cannot be the 
judges ; and this right, these principles have not been 
altered, have not been weakened by the ridicule sought 
to be thrown on the facts and character of the attempt." 

Following up this idea he proposes a test. 

" And here," said he, '' I do not think that the claims 
in the name of which the project was undertaken can 
possibly fall before the disdainful expressions of the 
procurator general. You make remarks on the weakness 
of the means employed, on the poverty of the enterprise, 
on the ridiculousness of any hopes of success : well, if 
success is every thing, — of you, who are the first men 
in the state, who are the members of a great political 
body, I will ask one question. Between the judge and 
the accused there is always an inevitable, eternal Arbitra- 
tor ; now, in presence of this Ai'bitrator, in the face of 
the country that shall hear your sentence, regardless of 
the feebleness of the means, with nothing but the rights 
of the case, the law, the constitution before your eyes, 
with your hands upon your hearts, standing before your 
God, and in the presence of us who know you, I ask 
you, can you say, ' If Louis Bonaparte had succeeded, 
if his pretended right had triumphed, I would still have 
denied it ; I would have refused all share in his power ; 
I would still have disregarded and rejected.' Yes, I 
accept this eternal Arbitrator ; whoever there may be 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 175 

among you that, before Ms God and before bis country, 
will say to me, ^ If he had succeeded I would have de- 
nied his right,' such a one I am willing to accept as a 
judge." 

It may be readily supposed such bold allusions to the 
well-known pliability of many of his hearers produced a 
profound emotion in the assembly. Arriving at the ques- 
tion of punishment, the orator showed that they could 
not inflict death — the public sentiment condemned that ; 
nor a degrading punishment — no opprobrium should 
be flung on the great name ; the coui't should judge as 
a political body, and do a political act. 

He thus concluded : — 

" In tracing back your origin, I ask you, marquises, 
counts, barons, and you ministers, marshals, to what are 
you indebted for your greatness ? To your acknowl- 
edged capacity, undoubtedly ; but it is no less certain 
that it is to the munificence of the empire that you owe 
your seats, and are judges to-day. In presence of the 
engagements imposed upon you by the recollections of 
your life, of the causes you have served, of your oaths, 
of the favors you have received, I say that a condemna- 
tion on your part would be an immorality ! Think on 
it seriously. There is an inevitable and terrible logic in 
the intelligence and instincts of the people : whoever, in 
the government of human things, has violated a single 
moral law, should expect the day to come when they shall 
he all hroJcen upon himself 

The last sentence sounds somewhat like a prediction 
fulfilled in our own days. 

As soon as M. Berryer sat down. Count Montholon 
rose to make his own defence. His discourse was short, 
but not without interest. 



176 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

'' Gentlemen/' said he, " I was in England, wMther 
family matters had called me. I often met Prince Na- 
poleon there : he often confided to me his thoughts on 
the condition of France, his project of convoking a 
national congress, his hopes of one day restoring to the 
French the political union which the emperor had so 
gloriously founded. All his ideas manifested an ardent 
love of France — a noble pride in the great name he 
bore ; and I found in him a living memorial of the long 
meditations of St. Helena. 

" But he never spoke to me positively of his intended 
enterprises, of his preparations for an expedition into 
France. "When on board the steamer, imagining we 
were going to Ostend, I learned our destination from the 
prince. I certainly might have made some remonstrat- 
ing remarks ; but it was too late. I would not leave 
the emperor's nephew : I would not abandon him on the 
coast of France. 

" I received the last sigh of Napoleon ! I closed his 
eyes. That explains my conduct. It is without regret 
that I find myself to-day accused of having taken a reso- 
lution of which the good opinion I entertain of human 
nature persuades me that each of you, gentlemen, would 
have been also capable." 

The most talented advocate on this occasion, after M. 
Berryer, was Ferdinand Barrot. His discourse was ex- 
ceedingly eloquent ; but we have time only for one ex- 
tract. It was where he made such a telling point for his 
client. Commandant Parquin. This man was one of 
Louis Napoleon's oldest friends, having married Made- 
moiselle Cochelet, Queen Hortense's reader and com- 
panion, with some extracts from whose memoirs we are 
already acquainted. We remember also that he had 
taken an important part in the affair of Strasburg. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 177 

"In 1818/' said Barrot, "tlie emperor held a review.* 
A young cavalry lieutenant presented himself in front 
of a regiment of infantry. Three times the emperor 
passed before him, sweeping him with that glance he 
knew so well how to give. At last the young lieuten- 
ant took courage, and advancing, said, ^ Sire, I am 
twenty-five years old, have been eleven years in the ser- 
vice ; have served eleven cam.paigns ; have received 
twelve wounds : that well deserves a cross. I ask it 
now; it is my due.' The emperor replied, ^ Of course 
it is ; and I must not be in your debt any longer.' And 
with his own hands he fastened the cross of the Legion 
of Honor on the breast of the young lieutenant. That 
lieutenant was Parc[uin. 

" I will mention only one fact in this glorious life. 
Before Leipsic, in October, 1813, one of our marshals 
was engaged with a host of enemies ; his life was in 
danger. Captain Parquin charges the enemy at the 
head of a few soldiers, and rescues a marshal of France. 
He is now seated among you ; and if I name him, it is 
not that I would trouble the voice of his conscience by 
recalling a favor rendered. No, gentlemen. If I pro- 
nounce his name here, it is to give you to understand 
that it has fallen to the lot of Parquin to save the life 
of one of the greatest glories of our time. Lieutenant 
Marshal the Duke of Keggio. Pardon me, if I shelter 
under the glory of his name the misfortune of an old 
soldier." 

The speaker's emotions prevented him from continu- 
ing his discourse for a moment, and when the Duke of 
E-eggio (General Oudinot) cried out, " The fact is true/' 
a very lively sensation was felt by the audience. 

Parquin added a few words of his own to the repre- 
sentations of his advocate. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

^^ Gentlemen/' said he, '' I had promised an illustri- 
ous princess, expiring in exile, never to quit her son in 
the difficult position fate had assigned him. This ex- 
plains my second appearance before justice. I have 
fulfilled this pious duty. And if from the heights of 
heaven, to which her goodness, her virtue, and her re- 
ligion must have brought her. Queen Hortense looks 
down here, and sees with sorrow her son arraigned before 
you, I shall, I trust, be also perceived sharing the mis- 
fortunes of him who has honored me with so many years 
of his friendship, and to whom I am bound with all the 
devotedness of which I am capable." 

M. Persigny demanded to present some observations. 
/^Gentlemen," said he, "it is seven years since profound 
studies on the grand consular and imperial era, as con- 
trasted in my mind with the present era, won my utmost 
admiration for Napoleonic ideas. This admiration ex- 
plains my devotion to the illustrious race personifying 
these ideas, and to the noble prince representing them. 
To contribute my share to the triumph of these ideas, 
which, as I was convinced, promised glory, liberty, and 
greatness to my country, I did not hesitate to become 
the soldier of one man, of one family. 

'' At a time when there is neither true authority nor 
true liberty in France, when parties and power are 
equally powerless, for want of a living personification 
of the grand interests of the country ." 

The Chancellor. — "I cannot permit the use of such 
expressions." 

" I mean," replied the accused, '^^ that authority is not 
sufficiently strong, and liberty not sufficiently extended. 
I think that is a doctrine, gentlemen, in which you all 
partly — — - " 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 179 

The Chancellor. — '^ Take care how you speak ; say 
nothing to aggravate your position." 

" I assure you," replies the accused, " that such is not 
my intention." 

The Chancellor. — " You have deceived yourself once 
already ; you may do so again." 

'' At a time," resumed Persigny, ^^ when every one 
wants to command, and nobody is willing to obey, I am 
proud to have practised obedience, and to have pledged 
my liberty with the object of securing and advancing 
the interests of my country. I am proud to have 
adopted the motto of that generous King of Bohemia, 
who came to die at Cressy for the cause of France, — 
that modest device, but not without its grandeur too, — 
^ I serve.^ 

"But it would req;gLire a voice more eloquent and 
more worthy than mine to make the Napoleonic idea 
understood here, to outroU its magnificent grandeur. 
It is not the part of a humble soldier of this idea to 
make himself its apostle before so illustrious an auditory. 
But it is his part, as it is that of every citizen, only to 
weep and groan under the misfortunes that have over- 
thrown its sway. Be it his part, as it is that of every 
soldier, to shed bitter tears over the vast calamity of 
Waterloo." 

Here M. Persigny was again interrupted by the chan- 
cellor, who told him that this was not a defence, but a 
violent political philippic. After several similar inter- 
ruptions, the accused refused to continue, protesting 
against the violence of the president. 

His defence, however, was made by his advocate, 
Barillon, in a powerful speech, which contained the fol- 
lowing remarkable passage : — 



180 LIFE OP NAPOLEON HI. 

" Here/' said he, " I pause to give expression to a 
sentiment in which all my confreres equally participate, 
and which, given at this bar, cannot be accused of 
flattery. 

" The expeditions of Prince Louis Napoleon may be 
differently interpreted — differeatly judged. Some may 
see in them the signs of thoughtless impulse, others the 
expression of a firm and persevering character. But 
what is incontestable is his possession of eminent quali- 
ties, of which we ourselves can speak as credible wit- 
nesses ; we, who met him for the first time within the 
walls of a prison, in one of those great trials for which 
the political man is not always prepared. What is in- 
contestable, is the immense irresistible ascendency which 
he exercises over all that approach him — is the secret 
attraction which culls and retains — is that cordiality 
which does not compromise dignity, and which com- 
mands affection as well as respect. To these qualities 
add the familiar hole which was one of the great powers 
of Napoleon, and to this portrait add the name of Na- 
poleon itself, surrounding a living head like an aureola, 
and you will have the secret of this devotedness, entire, 
absolute, blind, and I would say, almost superstitious, 
which chains all the accused to the destinies of the 
prince, and which was the only banner of the Boulogne 
expedition." 

Speaking of another of the accused. Dr. Couneau, 
whose name we shall often meet with again, he made a 
touching allusion to his unwearied attentions to Queen 
Hortense during her last illness. " This dying princess," 
he added, ^^ had written in her will this phrase, which 
shall forever associate her faithful physician with the 
existence of the young prince : ^ I desire that my son keep 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 181 

him always near Mm.' This dying wish, gentlemen, has 
been religiously observed ; for on that unhappy bench 
you perceive Couneau seated beside the son of his 
benefactress." 

This sentence produced a strong movement of ap- 
plause. In the course of his arguments he brought 
forward a curious paralleL "In 1815," said he, "when 
Napoleon attempted his famous landing, when he em- 
barked in the brig Inconstant, and confided to the waves 
the fortunes of the new Csssar, had he instructed on this 
point all those that were to figure in the extraordinary 
event, those whom an unshaken devotedness attached to 
his person ? No ; Cambronne says so in his defence, 
and history after him, — except Bertrand and Drouot, 
nobody was in the secret of the emperor. It was only 
after the departure, when his profound conception no 
longer had any thing to dread from the remonstrances 
of friendship, that collecting his faithful servants on the 
deck. Napoleon said, ^Friends, it is not in Italy but 
in France that I mean to land ! ' And all replied with 
one of those sudden acclamations that always hailed the 
great thoughts of Napoleon. What need to say more ? 
Has not Prince Louis been fed on the recollections of 
the emperor ? and could this memorable example have 
escaped him when he attempted the landing at Boulogne ? 
Must he not have shut up the secret in his own breast, 
and awaited, as the emperor, the last moment to reveal 
it to his friends ? Cambronne, gentlemen, was acquitted 
by the judges of the restoration. Let me implore you, 
do not make us regret their indulgence." 

The defence having closed, the procurator general 
made* a long reply, principally to M. Berryer's discourse, 
which he called more political than judicial. The 
16 



182 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

debates were terminated by a few words from Louis 
Napoleon. 

'^ The procurator general," he said, " has pronounced 
a very eloquent discourse ; but it was useless. When I 
asked M. Berryer to explain my intentions, so much 
misconstrued, and to explain my claims, I only wished 
thereby to fulfil my duty towards my birth and my fam- 
ily. M. Berryer has admirably fulfilled my desire. 
But now, since the question regards only my own fate, I 
do not want to be made an exception of upon any 
grounds. I wish to share the fate of these brave men 
who did not abandon me in the hour of danger ; and I 
beg M. Berryer not to continue the debates any longer." 

M. Berryer bowed before this request ; the court re- 
quired time to deliberate, and three days afterwards pro- 
nounced a decree by which Prince Louis Napoleon was 
condemned to perpetual imprisonment in a fortress situ- 
ated within the continental territory of the kingdom ; 
General Montholon, Commandant Parquin, Lombard, 
and Persigny to twenty years' captivity; Mesonan to 
fifteen years ; Couneau to five years, and most of the 
others to periods of imprisonment varying from ten to 
two years. 

Pour were acquitted. 

The prince, on hearing his sentence, exclaimed, '^At 
least I shall have the consolation of dying on the soil 
of Prance." But afterwards, when the clerk, reading 
the sentence formally, in his presence, came to the words 
" perpetual imprisonment," " Sir," said he, '^ formerly it 
was said that the word imjpossible was not Prench : I 
suspect it is so with the word ]^erpetual now." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 183 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

Imprisonment in Ham. — Louis Ncvpoleon^s own Opinion on 
his Captivity and its Occasion. — Ham. — Its Situation. — 
Its History. — The Princess grateful Letter to his Counsel. 
— His Apartments in the Fortress of Ham. — The Gar- 
rison. — Close and harsh Restriction exercised towards the 
Prisoner. — His Protest. 

Thus ended the affair of Boulogne. Unwilling to 
approve of it_, still we do not find it easy to give it an 
unqualified censure. Like the attempt at Strasburg, it 
had been, as it were, forced on the prince by his nature, 
by his name. In his position, it is not surprising if he 
thought persisting in an abortive expedition was prefera- 
ble to dragging out an existence in the weariness of ob- 
scurity. However_, Louis Napoleon himself, on several 
occasions since, has taken care to pass a severe judgment 
on both these enterprises. To confine ourselves to one : 
In July, 1849, when president of the French republic, 
he paid a visit to the fortress of Ham, where he had 
suffered six years' captivity, and addressed the mayor of 
that town in the following words : — 

" Mr. Mayor, I am profoundly impressed with the 
affectionate reception which I receive from your fellow- 
townsmen. But, believe me, if I have come to Ham, it 
is not through pride ; it is through gratitude. It was 
the wish of my heart to thank the inhabitants of this 
town and the neighborhood for all the marks of sympathy 
which, they never ceased to show me in my misfortunes. 

" To-day, as by the choice of imiversal France, I have 
become the legitimate chief of this great nation, I can-' 
not glorify myself for a captivity which was the result 



184 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

of an attack on a regular government. When we see 
how many evils even the justest revolutions bring in 
their train, we hardly know what to make of the auda- 
cious man that takes on himself the terrible responsibil- 
ity of a change. I do not com/plain then of having 
expiated here, by six years^ imprisonment, a rash attempt 
against the laws of my native land, and it is with pleas- 
ure that, here in the very scene of my suffering, I pro- 
pose to you a toast in honor of the men who were 
determined, in spite of their convictions, to respect the 
institutions of their country." 

These are the words of a wise, if not of a great man. 
However, it is not the less certain, that these events 
carried his name, and, thanks to the little prudence of 
the government, a knowledge of his claims and attrac- 
tive qualities also, to th.e inhabitants of the most distant 
hamlets. His celebrated trial had made an impression 
on the French heart that not even a long captivity of 
six years could efface. 

General Montholon, the old friend of the emperor, 
more attached to him perhaps in the sufferings of his 
imprisonment than during the prosperities of the empire, 
and the generous accomplice in the rashness of the 
nephew, was granted the privilege of sharing in the 
captivity of the prince by being confined in the same 
fortress. Doctor Couneau, though condemned to only 
five years' captivity, demanded, and also obtained per- 
mission, to be incarcerated in the Castle of Ham, with 
the prince to whom he had devoted his life. The other 
prisoners were distributed through different jails. 

Ham, so long the compulsory residence of Prince 
Louis Napoleon, is a little town about ninety miles N. 
by E. from Paris, in the province of Picardy, in the 



LIFE OF KAPOLEON III. 185 

department of Somme, and contains a population of 
about three thousand inhabitants. 

It is situated in the midst of a very extensive plain, 
stretching far in every direction. The whole country 
around is nearly destitute of trees, and presents the as- 
pect of one of those great battle fields which seem ex- 
pressly formed on the surface of the globe to serve as 
theatres for the exhibition of the bloody scenes of hu- 
man passions. 

. The name is derived from the German, and probably 
dates as far back as the Prankish invasion. It signifies 
a place of halt or rest, and is closely allied if not synon- 
ymous with the word " home." We find it to be one 
of the most usual elements of the old Teutonic names 
of places, such as Hamburg, Durham, Hampshire, Not- 
tingham, &c. Though it was never a place of much 
importance. Ham is not without its history. There is a 
dim legend of a mighty battle having been fought in its 
neighborhood, in which the Huns were defeated with, 
great slaughter. At the end of the ninth century it 
was the capital of a territory to which it gave the name 
Hamois. It was frequently taken and retaken during 
the endless wars of early French history. Simon, cas- 
tellan of Ham, in 986, is generally regarded as the 
founder of the ancient house of Ham, which became 
extinct in the person of John IV., who died about the 
year 1374. 

This lordship having been successively in the posses- 
sion of the houses of Coucy, D'Enghien, Luxembourg, 
Hohan, Yendome, and Navarre, was united to the crown 
of France about the time of the accession of Henry IV. 

The town was taken and burned in 1411 by the Duke 
of Burgundy, and in 1415 by the English. Xainbrailles 
16* 



186 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IH. 

and Luxembourg fought for its possession in 1423. Af- 
ter the battle of St. Quentin, (1557,) it fell into the 
power of the Spaniards, but was restored to France by 
the treaty of Chateau Cambresis. It was again besieged 
in 1595, during the war of the League. 

The fortress still exhibits portions of wall erected 
more than a thousand years ago, and it may be consid- 
ered one of the oldest state prisons in Europe. But the 
present castle dates no farther back than 1470, when 
Louis de Luxembourg, Count de St. Pol, the constable 
of France, reconstructed it on the ruins of the ancient 
fortress. The great tower, one hundred feet in height, 
the same in diameter, and with waUs thirty feet thick, 
was built at the same time, and is still called the con- 
stable's tower. The inscription, *^MoN MiEUX," (my 
best,) which St. Pol had engraved over the portal in 
Gothic letters, can be read to-day, after a lapse of nearly 
four centuries. According to the historian Mathieu, it 
is believed that the constable wished by these words to 
express his certainty of always finding this strong re- 
treat his best friend in threatening circumstances. If so, 
St. Pol must have greatly deceived himself, for the walls 
had hardly had time to settle, when, as is well known, 
he was perfidiously delivered by the Duke of Burgundy 
into the hands of the king, Louis XL, who, after a short 
trial, had him beheaded on the Place de Greve — a fit 
reward for his numerous acts of treachery. The fortress 
has since served at intervals as a state prison. It was 
used by Louis Philippe, after the overthrow of Charles 
X., in 18S0, for the incarceration of Polignac, Peyron- 
net, and other ministers of the fallen monarch. 

The Castle of Ham at the present day is very much 
in the same condition as in the time of the constable. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 187 

The fortress is square, and flanked at the angles with 
four round towers, connected together by very narrow 
ramparts. The only gate, towards the north-east, is pro- 
tected by a strong square tower, to which another of 
similar form corresponds in the direction of the north- 
west. The ramparts on the south and east are washed 
by the waters of the canal of St. Quentin, and the 
Somme, which flows past the town, is also very near. 
There are two brick buildings of moderate size in the 
interior of the court, which are used as barracks ; and 
the state prison forms the extremity of one of these 
buildings. It consists of a poor, small dwelling, badly 
built, low, damp, and separated only by a space of some 
feet from the exterior ramparts, which eflectually pre- 
vent a free circulation of air, and almost obstruct the 
light. This was the gloomy spot where Prince Louis 
Napoleon was to spend the remainder of his days. 

On the 6th of October, at four o'clock in the after- 
noon, the sentence of the Chamber of Peers was read to 
him. At midnight he was compelled to enter a carriage, 
without being allowed to see any of his friends, and un- 
der the escort of a colonel of the municipal guards, he 
was conducted to Ham, where he arrived next day. 

The evening before his sentence v/as pronounced, he 
wrote the following affectionate letter to M. Berryer, his 
eminent counsel, to thank -him for his able defence : — 

Paris, Oct. 5, 1840. 

" My dear Monsieur Berryer : 

" I will not quit my prison in Paris without renewing 
to you all my thanks for the noble services which you 
have rendered me during my trial. As soon as I learned 
that I was about to be brought for trial before the Court 
of Peers, I had the idea of asking you to undertake my 



188 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

defence, because I knew that your independence of char- 
acter placed you above all the petty influence of parties, 
and that your heart was ever open to the claims of mis- 
fortune, as your spirit was able to comprehend every 
great thought, every noble sentiment. I chose you, 
therefore, out of esteem : now I quit you with senti- 
ments of gratitude and friendship. I know not what 
fate may have in reserve for me : I know not if I shall 
ever be in a position to prove to you my gratitude : I 
know not even if you would consent to receive any 
proofs of it : but, whatever may be our respective posi- 
tions, apart from politics and their painful obligations, 
we can always entertain feelings of esteem and friend- 
ship for one another ; and I declare to you, that if my 
trial had had no other result than to obtain for me your 
friendship, I should consider myself immensely the 
gainer by it, and should not complain of my fate. 

^^ Adieu, my dear Monsieur Berryer. Receive the 
assurance of my sentiments of esteem and gratitude. 
" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

In the commencement of his sojourn in Ham, the 
prisoner occupied the rooms which had been previously 
appropriated to M. de Polignac, minister of Charles X., 
and was afterwards removed to those which had been 
occupied by Count de Peyronnet, the colleague of Po- 
lignac. These apartments were really in a state of com- 
plete dilapidation, and comfort seemed to be as great a 
stranger in this melancholy abode as liberty. The ceil- 
ing was full of holes, the paper on the walls torn ; the 
floor, formed of brick badly laid, was uneven and 
broken ; the doors and windows would not shut close, 
and gave free access to the chilly atmosphere. Such was 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 189 

the habitation of the emperor's nephew. Let us, how- 
ever, hasten to observe, that in order to remedy this 
state of things, which very soon began to affect the 
health of the prisoner, M. de Kemnsat, minister of the 
interior, and son of a chamberlain of Napoleon, placed 
at the disposal of the commandant, to be expended in 
the necessary repairs, and purchase of articles requisite 
for the prisoner's convenience or comfort, the sum of 
six hundred francs, or about a hundred and twenty dol- 
lars — a paltry pittance, and really unworthy of a sensi- 
ble government. 

With respect to the interior arrangements, things, as 
might be expected, were placed on a most moderate foot- 
ing. Though M. Lardenois, lieutenant general of the 
gendarmerie, who had had the honor of being embraced 
by the emperor at Montereau, regulated the expenses of 
the table ; the sum fixed by him was only seven francs, 
not quite a dollar and a half, per day. The condemned 
ministers of Charles X. had been treated more gener- 
ously, having been each allowed ten francs a day. 

The garrison of Ham consisted of four hundred men, 
of whom sixty, at least, were constantly on duty, care- 
fully guarding the exterior as well as the interior of the 
fortress. In addition to this military guard, there was 
at Ham, as at all other prisons, a brigade of door-keep- 
ers, turnkeys, and keepers, to whom the ' care of the 
prince's person was more particularly intrusted. 

The commandant of the fort was an old officer named 
Demarle, a good-natured and polished man ; he constantly 
showed the prince the utmost personal regard, but in 
strict obedience to orders, took every precaution to pre- 
vent the possibility of his escape. The government did 
not show itself equally prudent. By a singular over- 



190 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

slglit, the garrison was composed precisely of tlie very 
same soldiers of the same forty-sixth regiment of the 
line who had known the prince at Strasburg in 1836, 
and of the forty-second, which was in garrison in Bou- 
logne in 1840. It was no unusual thing for the soldiers 
to come to the windows and cry, " Vive VEmpereur ! " 
at the time when the prisoner was taking his usual walk 
on the ramparts. To guard against this inconvenience, 
blinds were put on the windows of the barracks that 
looked in that direction. 

For nine months he was subjected to very close re- 
striction. If he took a walk on the ramparts, in a space 
of forty yards long by twenty broad, it was not sufficient 
that there should be numerous sentinels within and with- 
out the fort, at the very foot of the stairs, and at the 
door of his apartment ; but a keeper was appointed to fol- 
low him closely, strictly enjoined never to allow him out 
of sight. Among his servants was one who, attached to 
his person since his youth, though not condemned him- 
self, had asked and obtained permission to share his cap- 
tivity. This faithful creature was Charles Thelin, his 
valet de chamhre. He was as closely confined as if he 
were a sentenced prisoner, and was never permitted to 
go into the town to execute any of those thousand little 
commissions which might have served as some additions 
to his master's comfort. The soldiers had received or- 
ders not to honor the prince by the military salute ; but 
it was not seldom that they presented arms to the neph- 
ew of the emperor, even at the risk of four days' con- 
finement in the guard house. 

After a number of conversations and official requests, 
it was admitted that the prisoner's health required hors3 
exercise, and a horse was at length brought for his use. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 191 

But as soon as he mounted on horseback^, in tlie narrow 
and ill-paved castle yard, he became an object of curi- 
osity to the whole posse of jailers and turnkeys, to the 
soldiers, and many of the inhabitants of Ham, who were 
permitted to look through the embrasures of the outer 
walls. The prince soon became weary of being a mere 
sshow to these people, and was obliged to renounce his 
favorite exercise, which was so necessary to his health. 

To obtain access to the prince, an order from the 
minister of the interior was necessary ; and these orders 
were only procured with great difficulty ; and even this 
order was not enough — the order could not be received 
by the commandant of the fortress till it was counter- 
signed by the commissioner of police in the town of 
Ham. Measures of precaution were so strictly carried 
out that men were employed to go round every morning 
and obliterate those inscriptions with which the soldiers 
had covered the walls during the night to testify their 
sympathy. General Montholon, in a letter to a friend, 
writes as follows : " The thing which vexes me, as a 
Frenchman, most, is to think that the emperor, at St. 
Helena, was not so ill treated by the English, as his 
nephew is in France by the French." 

The prince abstained from all complaints for nine 
months, and then wrote the following protest to the 
French government. We present it to our readers, as 
conveying a better idea of his situation than any we 
could otherwise give them. 

« Citadel op Ham, Maij 22, 1841. 

" During the nine months which I have now been in 
the hands of the French government, I have submitted 
patiently to indignities of every description ; I do not. 



192 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

however, wish to be silent any longer, or to authorize 
oppression by my silence. 

'^ My position ought to be considered under two points 
of view — the one moral, the other legal. Morally 
speaking, the government which has recognized the 
legitimacy of the head of my family, is bound to recog- 
nize me as a prince, and to treat me as such. 

" Policy has rights which I do not dispute ; let gov- 
ernment act towards me as towards its enemy, and de- 
prive me of the means of doing harm. So far it would 
be right ; but on the other hand, its behavior will be 
inconsequent and dastardly, if it treats me, who am the 
son of a king, the nephev/ of an emperor, and allied to 
all the sovereigns of Europe, as an ordinary prisoner. 

" In appealing to foreign alliances, I am not ignorant 
that they have never been of use to the conquered, and 
that misfortune severs all bonds; but the French gov- 
ernment ought to recognize the principle which has 
made me what I am, for it is by this that it exists itself. 
The sovereignty of the people made my uncle an em- 
peror, my father a king, and me a French prince by my 
birth. Have I not, then, a right to the respect and 
regard of all those in whose eyes the voice of a great 
people, glory, and misfortune are any thing ? 

" If, for the first time in my life, I perchance boast of 
the accident which has presided over my birth, it is be- 
cause pride suits my position, and that I have purchased 
the early favors of fortune by twenty-seven years of 
sufiering and sorrow. 

"With respect to my legal position, the Court of 
Peers has created in my case an exceptional penalty. 

^^By condemning me to perpetual imprisonment, it 
has only legalized the decree of fate which has made 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 193 

me prisoner of war. It has endeavored to combine hu- 
manity with, policy, by inflicting upon me the mildest 
punishment for the longest time possible. 

'^ In its execution, however, the government has fall- 
en very far short of the intention which I am pleased 
to ascribe to my judges. Accustomed from my youth 
to a strict rule of life, I do not complain of the incon- 
venient simplicity of my dwelling ; but that of which I 
do complain, is being made the victim of vexatious meas- 
ures, by no means necessary to my safe keeping. 

*^ During the first months of my captivity, every kind 
of communication from without was forbidden, and 
within I was kept in the most rigorous confinement. 
Since, however, several persons have been admitted to 
communicate with me, these internal restrictions can 
have no longer an object; and yet it is precisely since 
they have become useless that they are more rigorously 
enforced. 

" All the provisions for the supply of my daily wants 
are subjected to the most rigid scrutiny. 

'' The attentions of my single faithful servant, who 
has been permitted to follow me, are encumbered with 
obstacles of every description. Such a system of terror 
has been established in the garrison and among the ofii- 
cials in the castle, that no individual dares raise his eyes 
towards me ; and it requires even extraordinary bold- 
ness to be commonly polite. 

" How can it be otherwise, when the simplest civility 
of look is reararded as a crime, and when all those who 
would wish to soften the rigors of my position, without 
failing in their duty, are threatened with being de- 
nounced to the authorities, and with losing their places. 
In the midst of this France, which the head of my fam- 
17 



194 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

ily has made so great, I am treated like an excommuni- 
cated person in the thirteenth century. Every one flies 
at my approach, and all fear my touch as if my breath 
were infectious. 

^'This insulting inquisition, which pursues me into 
my very chamber, which follows my footsteps when I 
breathe the fresh air in a retired corner of the fort, is 
not limited to my person alone, but is extended even 
to my thoughts. My letters to my family, the effu- 
sions of my heart, are submitted to the strictest scru- 
tiny ; and if a letter should contain any expressions 
of too lively a sympathy, the letter is sequestrated, and 
its writer is denounced to the government. 

'^By an infinity of details, too long to enumerate, it 
appears that pains are taken, at every moment of the 
day, to make me sensible of my captivity, and to cry 
incessantly in my ears, ^ Vce metis.'' 

" It is important to call to mind, that none of the 
measures which I have pointed out were put in force 
against the ministers of Charles X., whose dilapidated 
chambers I now occupy. 

" And yet these ministers were not born on the steps 
of a throne ; and, moreover, they were not condemned 
to simple imprisonment, but their sentence implied a 
more severe treatment than has been given to me ; and, 
finally, they were not the representatives of a cause 
which is an object of feneration in France. 

^* The treatment, therefore, which I endure, is neither 
just, legal, nor humane. 

'' If it be supposed that such measures will subdue 
me, it is a mistake ; it is not outrage, but marks of 
kindness, which subdue the hearts of those who suffer. 
" Napoleon Louis Bonaparte." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 195 

In consequence of this energetic appeal the rigors of 
his captivity were somewhat relaxed. His valet, Thelin, 
was permitted to go to town at pleasure, and some other 
alleviations were allowed, more conformable with the 
rank of the prisoner, and the dignity of the govern- 
ment. 

The earthly destiny of Prince Louis Napoleon now 
seemed to be decided forever. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Prison Life. — Gardening. — Louis Napoleon's Address to 
the Shade of the Emperor. '— Letter to Lady Blessington. — 
Sympathy generally manifested in his Favor. — Anecdotes, 
— Letter on the rumored Amnesty. — The Clairvoyant. 

The prince endeavored to dispel the monotony of his 
prison life by such a diversity of occupations as his cir- 
cumstances permitted. He rose early in the morning 
and worked till breakfast, which w^ served at ten 
o'clock ; after breakfast, he walked on the parapet, 
or cultivated his flowers, for which he had made a bed 
along the ramparts. Gardening, when it can be had, is 
always a favorite amusement of prisoners. Louis Na- 
poleon, inheriting from his mother, Hortense, a strong 
passion for flowers, relished it particularly. Almost 
every reader is acquainted with the charming tale of 
Picciola, where a little flower, discovered by a captive 
in his dungeon, becomes not only a sweet consolation in 
his loneliness, but actually proves to be the means of 
reforming his character, and restoring him to the world. 



196 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

a wise and happy man. Louis Napoleon read this tale 
with a peculiar interest, arising from the nature of his 
situation, and wrote as follows regarding it in a letter 
to a friend : — 

" I have read the book — Picciola — of which you 
speak, and have been enchanted with the style, so sim- 
ple, so elegant, which differs so widely from the gener- 
ality of the works of the day. The fact is, that litera- 
ture is nothing else than the voice of the society of the 
day ; and when society is undergoing convulsions, and 
subject to all sorts of fancies, its voice must speak of 
them. 

'^ I am, however, more happy than the prisoner who 
is the hero of the author of Picciola, and they respect 
my flowers here very carefully. I might, indeed, al- 
ready gather a bouc[uet worthy of Lady 's garden. 

Perhaps I boast a little in saying this ; but then it is 
because I see my onions with paternal eyes." 

After an hour or two bestowed on his garden, he 
returned to his room to read his correspondence, to write 
to his friends, or to resume his morning reading and 
labors till dinner.. The kindness of the ministers, Sal- 
vandy and Villemain, had taken care to procure him a 
regular supply of the treasures of the great Prench 
public libraries. Books, then, those invaluable foun- 
tains of amusement to a mind disposed to study, were 
not wanting. After dinner a few hours were passed in 
conversation with his companions in captivity. The 
evenings were generally devoted to whist, at which, be- 
sides General Montholon and Dr. Couneau, the com- 
mandant of the fortress himself took part. Yes, when 
this brave Cerberus had taken his rounds, and made sure 
that every one was at his post, he put the keys of his 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 197 

bastlle into Ms pocket, happy in the thought that night, 
by obliging him to lock np every thing, suspended till 
the morrow the dangers of his responsibility. Then he 
could forget for a moment the unpleasant nature of his 
office, and proud of feeling himself now nothing but 
the soldier, he used to go, with this title, to take the 
fourth hand in the prince's game, and endeavor to find 
in the distractions of an innocent play some relaxation 
after the day's toil. 

"We have already alluded to Louis Philippe's desire 
to comply with the unanimous wish of France to have 
the body of the emperor brought home from St. Helena, 
and interred in the Hotel des Invalides. His son, the 
Prince de Joinville, arrived with the illustrious ashes on 
the 30th of November, and the obsequies were celebrat- 
ed with great splendor and magnificence, at Paris, on the 
15th of the following • month. Whilst the Parisians, 
wild with enthusiasm, were hailing with every conceiva- 
ble ceremony, expressive of exultation and gratitude, 
the arrival of the great emperor's remains, Louis Bona- 
parte, in the silence of his prison, was penning the fol- 
lowing rhapsody, and it may be easily conceived with 
what bitterness of feeling. 

" To the Shade of the Emperor. 

" Citadel op Ham, Dec. 15, 1840. 

*' Sire : You return to your capital, and the people 
in multitudes hail your return ; whilst I, from the depth 
of my dungeon, can only discern a ray of that sun 
which shines upon your obsequies. 

" Be not angry with your family because they are not 
there to receive you ; your exile and your misfortunes 
have ceased with your life ; ours continue still. 
17* 



198 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

" You have expired upon a rock, far from your coun- 
try and from your kindred ; the hand of a son has not 
closed your eyes ; and to-day not one of your kinsmen 
will follow your bier. 

" Montholon, whom you loved the most amongst your 
faithful companions, has performed the office of a son ; 
he remains faithful to your ideas, and has fulfilled your 
last wishes. He has conveyed to me your last words. 
He is in prison with me. 

" A French vessel, under the command of a noble 
youth, went to claim your ashes ; in vain you would 
have surveyed the deck in search of your kin ; your 
family was not there. 

" When you touched the soil of France, an electric 
shock was felt ; you raised yourself in your coffin ; your 
eyes were for a moment reopened ; the tri-color floated 
upon the shore, but your eagle was not there. 

" The people, as in former times, throng around your 
passage, and salute you with their acclamations, as if 
you were still alive ; but the courtiers of the day, whilst 
rendering you homage, say, with suppressed breath, 
^ God grant he may not awake ! ' 

'^ You have at length seen again those French whom 
you loved so much ; you have returned to that France 
which you have made so great ; but foreign arms have 
left a track which the pomp of your return can never 
efiace. 

^^ See that young army ; they are the sons of your 
veterans ; they venerate you, for you are their glory ; 
but they say to them, ^ Fold your arms.' 

" Sire, the people all over the country are good ; but 
those men whom you have made so great, and who are 
yet so small — ah, sire, regret them not. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 199 

• 

^' They have denied your gospel, your ideas, your 
glory, and your blood ; when I have spoken to them of 
your cause, they have said to me, ' We do not under- 
stand it.' 

'' Let them say so, let them do so ; what signify to 
the rolling car the grains of sand which it crushes under 
its wheels ! They say in vain that you were a meteor 
which has left no trace behind : in vain they deny your 
civil glory ; they will not disinherit us. 

'^ Sire, the 15th of December is a great day for France 
and for me. From the midst of your splendid cortege, 
disdaining the homage of -many around, you have for a 
moment cast your eyes upon my gloomy abode, and call- 
ing to mind the caresses you lavished upon me when a 
child, you have said to me, ' You suffer for me : friend, 
I am satisfied with you.' 

"Napoleon Louis Bonaparte."* 

During the prince's stay in England, before his nn- 
fortunate Boulogne expedition, he had experienced much 
kindness and attention in that country generally, but 
nowhere more cordiality and real friendship than at Gore 
House. This was the residence of the Countess of 
Blessington, a daughter of Edmund Power, of Clonmel, 
and one of the most brilliant and popular authoresses of 
the day. But the power and influence of her intellec- 
tual qualities consisted chiefly in her conversational 
talents. Her salons were opened eveiy evening to men 



* It has no doubt been already noticed that the prince signed himself 
indiflferently " Louis Napoleon " or '* Napoleon Louis." At the elections, 
however, which took place after the revolution of February, 1848, this dis- 
order in the prefixes having occasioned some confusion, he decided on finally 
adopting the signature ** Louis Napoleon," by which he is best known. 



200 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

of genius and learning, and persons of celebrity of all 
climes, to travellers of every European city of distinc- 
tion. Her abode became a centre of attraction for the 
heau monde of tbe intellectual classes, a place of re- 
union for remarkable persons of talent or eminence of 
some sort or other, and certainly the most agreeaj)le 
resort of men of literature, art, science, of strangers of 
distinction, travellers, and public characters of various 
pursuits — the most agreeable that ever existed in the 
country. Louis Napoleon had been one of the most 
constant and intimate guests at Gore House, both before 
and after his imprisonment at Ham. He used to dine 
there whenever there were any distinguished persons, 
whether English or foreign. He was on the most famil- 
iar and intimate terms with Lady Blessington and her 
circle, joining them in parties to Greenwich, Richmond, 
&c., and all his friends, as well as himself, were made 
welcome ; on his subsequent escape from Ham he went 
to Gore House straight on his arrival in London, giving 
Lady Blessington the first intimation of the fact.* 

Lady Blessington was an old friend. In 1828 she had 
made the acquaintance of Queen Hortense, then residing 
in Italy. The prince was then in his twentieth year, 
and Lady Blessington says she never witnessed a more 
devoted attachment than subsisted between him and his 
mother. ^' He is a fine, high-spirited youth," she ob- 
serves in one of her letters, "admirably educated and 
finely accomplished, uniting to the gallant bearing of a 
soldier all the politeness of a preux chevalier ; but how 
could he be otherwise, brought up by such a mother ? 
Prince Louis Bonaparte is much beloved and esteemed 

* Madden's " Memoirs of Lady Blessington," just published. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 201 

by all wlio know him, and is said to resemble his uncle, 
the Prince Eugene Beauharnois, no less in person than 
in mind, possessing his generous nature, personal cour- 
age, and high sense of honor." 

It was to this lady he wrote the subjoined letter, in 
the latter part of which his dauntless heart reveals itself 
in one remarkable sentence. 

" Ham, January 13, 1841. 

*' My Lady : I have only to-day received your letter 
of the 1st of January, because, being in English, it had 
to be sent to the minister at Paris to be read. I am very 
sensible of your kind recollection of me, and it is with 
regret that I find that your letters hitherto have not 
reached me. I have only received from Gore House 
one letter from Count D'Orsay, which I immediately re- 
plied to whilst at the Conciergerie. I very much regret 
it should have been intercepted, because in it I expressed 
to him all the gratitude I felt for the interest he took in 
my misfortunes. I will not give you an account of all 
I have suffered. Your poetic soul and your noble heart 
have already divined all the cruel circumstances of a 
position where self-defence has impassable limits, and 
self-justification is shackled with a reserve to which one 
feels one's self compelled. In such a case, the only con- 
solation for all the calumnies and all the hardships of 
fortune is to be able to hear, at the bottom of one's heart, 
an absolving voice, and to receive testimonials of sym- 
pathy from those rare creatures, who, like you, madam, 
are distinguished from the ordinary crowd by the lofti- 
ness of their sentiments, by their independence of char- 
acter, and who do not allow their affections and their 
judgments to depend upon the caprices of fortune or 
the dispensations of fate. 



202 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

^' I have been for the last three months in the fortress 
of Ham, together with General Montholon, and Dr. 
Couneau ; but all communication with the exterior of 
the prison is forbidden ; nobody, as yet, has been able 
to obtain leave to come and see me. I will send you, 
one of these days, a view of the citadel, which I copied 
from a small lithograph, for you may be well aware that 
of myself I know nothing of the fortress from the out- 
side. 

" My thoughts often go back to the spot in which 
you dwell ; and I recall with happiness the moments 
which I have passed in your amiable society, to which 
the Count D'Orsay still adds a charm with his spirited 
and open-hearted gayety. Nevertheless, I have no de- 
sire to quit the spot in which I now am, for here I am 
in my proper place. With the name ivhich I hear, I must 
he either in the seclusion of a dungeon or in the hright- 
ness of jpower. 

" If you will deign, madam, to write to me occasion- 
ally, and to give me some news of a country in which I 
have been too happy not to love it, you will confer on 
me a great pleasure. 

'^ Napoleon Louis." 

When the rigorous precautions at first taken to secure 
the safe keeping of the prisoner were a little relaxed, 
he was not only allowed to communicate externally by 
means of correspondence, but his friends were allowed 
to write to him, and even to visit him. But, as we said 
before, the latter favor was extremely difficult to obtain, 
and the commissary of police in the town of Ham was 
still enjoined to exercise the strictest watchfulness. This 
officer executed his orders with the utmost fidelity ; but 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 203 

the cloud of spies tliat lie had scattered around in all 
directions, to render themselves necessary, and to show 
their zeal, sometimes fabricated the most groundless, and 
often the most ridiculous reports. One day, for instance, 
it was asserted that two thousand mechanics from the 
plain of St. Denis intended to attempt a rescue of the 
captive prince. At this intelligence, the little peaceable 
town of Ham was immediately invaded by a small army ; 
gendarmerie from the country round, cavalry from 
Amiens, artillery from La Fere, hardly found room in 
the wondering streets. But it was almost immediately 
afterwards discovered that it was a false alarm, and next 
morning the troops were sent back to their ordinary 
garrisons. 

The report, however, was not altogether without 
foundation. The situation of the emperor's nephew 
excited strong sympathies among the more numerous 
classes, but especially among the military. Troops 
never passed through Ham without showing the noble 
prisoner sincere marks of interest. Not being permit- 
ted to enter the citadel, they would remain, nearly all 
the day, watching the walls until he came to take his 
usual walk on the ramparts. As soon as he made his 
appearance, waving hats and vivas of satisfaction showed 
him the sympathy which his name and misfortunes had 
inspired. These demonstrations, repeated as often as a 
new regiment arrived, were very significant. 

An incident equally illustrative of the position which 
the prince held in popular favor occurred about this 
time. One of the school teachers of the town of Ham 
happened to conceive the idea that some mark of interest 
from the illustrious prisoner shut up within the fortress 
would serve as a great encouragement to his pupils ia 



204 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

the prosecution of tlieir labors, and accordingly made 
his request. The prince immediately sent him some 
medals, which, as one of them had been struck to com- 
memorate the late return of the emperor's ashes, and 
the others on the occasion of some of his greatest victo- 
ries, it is needless to add, formed a most important fea- 
ture in the school at the next distribution of prizes. 

The example was not lost on the other teachers in the 
town. Their applications were received with the same 
favor. New distributions of medals had a surprising 
effect in stimulating the industry of the pupils, and the 
simple-minded instructors were congratulating them- 
selves on the powerful auxiliary they had received in 
their arduous labors, when, one day, they were thunder- 
struck at the unexpected appearance among them of the 
inspector from Amiens, who told them that they were 
guilty of an offence against the safety of the state. 
The poor men protested that their crime was uninten- 
tional, promised never to offend so grievously again, and 
were very glad to get off with no worse punishment than 
a severe reprimand. 

But affairs of this nature only slightly broke the mo- 
notony of his prison life. Not that his captivity could 
have been very wearisome, for, besides the presence of 
devoted friends, and the occupations already mentioned, 
he occasionally received visits from some of the most 
distinguished men of the day, maintained an extensive 
correspondence, wrote several important works, which 
we shall notice fully in our next chapter, and was a reg- 
ular contributor to some newspapers, particularly to the 
Fr ogres du Pas de Calais, edited by his friend De 
George. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 205 

It was in this journal the following letter appeared, 
which speaks for itself: — 

"Fortress op Ham, April 18, 1843. 

" You tell me they talk a good deal in Paris about an 
amnesty, and you inquire of me what are the impressions 
produced upon me by that news. I reply frankly to 
your question. 

"If to-morrow the door of my prison were to be 
opened to me, and I were told, ^ You are free ; come and 
seat yourself as a citizen among the hearths of your na- 
tive country ; France no longer repudiates any of her 
children ; ' ah, then indeed a lively feeling of joy would 
seize my soul. But if, on the contrary, they came, to 
offer me an exchange of my present condition for that 
of an exile, I should refuse such a proposition, because 
it would be in my eyes an aggravation of punishment. 
I prefer being a captive on the soil of France to being 
a free man in a foreign land. 

" Moreover, I know the value of an amnesty granted 
by the existing authorities. Seven years ago, after the 
affair of Strasburg, they came one night and snatched 
me away from the tribunals of justice, in spite of my 
protestations, and without giving me time to pack up 
the most necessary articles of apparel, transported me 
two thousand le'agues from Em;ope. After detaining me 
some time, at Rio Janeiro, they took me eventually to 
the United States. Receiving at New York news of the 
serious indisposition of my mother, I returned to Eng- 
land. On arriving there, what was my astonishment to 
find all the ports of the continent closed against me, 
through the exertions of the French government ! and 
what was my indignation on learning that, in order to 
18 



206 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

prevent me from going to close the eyes of a dying 
mother, they had spread abroad, during my absence, the 
calumny (so often repeated and so often denied) that I 
had promised not to return to Europe. 

^^ Deceiving the police authorities of the German 
states, I succeeded in making my way into Switzerland, 
and assisted at a spectacle the most agonizing it is possi- 
ble for the heart of a son to contemplate. Scarcely was 
the corpse of my mother deposited in its coffin, when 
the Trench government wanted to have me expelled 
from the hospitable soil in which I had become a citizen 
and a proprietor ; the Swiss people stood by their rights 
and protected me. Nevertheless, wishing to avoid num- 
berless complications, and perhaps a collision, I volun- 
tarily quitted — not, however, without bitter regret — the 
scenes where my mother, for twenty years, had preserved 
her French penates, and where I had grown to manhood ; 
where, in short, I had so many friends, that I sometimes 
almost believed I was in my own country. Such were 
the results, as far a^ I was concerned, of the amnesty 
forced upon me by the government. Do you think I 
can wish to experience a second amnesty at their hands ? 

^^ Banished for twenty-five years, twice betrayed by 
fate, I have experienced all the vicissitudes and sorrows 
of this life ; and having got the better of the illusions 
of youth, I find in the native air I breathe, in study, in 
the seclusion of a prison, a charm which I had not 
experienced when I participated in the enjoyments of 
foreign countries, where, being vanquished, I had to 
drink out of the same cup as the conqueror of Wa- 
terloo. 

" In a word, I should repeat, supposing that the occa- 
sion presented itself to me, that which I declared before 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 207 

the Court of Peers : ' I will not accept of any generosity, 
because I know how much it costs,' 
" Receive, &c. 

"N. L. Bonaparte." 

This letter, though written in the third year of his 
captivity, does not show the least diminution of his un- 
conquerable spirit. On the contrary, it betrays a calm 
confidence in the future, moodily biding its time. Is 
Louis Napoleon really a fatalist ? So his uncle the em- 
peror was said to be ; yet with all his confidence in his 
star, he went to consult Mademoiselle Lenormand, the 
fortune teller of the Faubourg St. Germain. The neph- 
ew likewise, at the request of his mother, once consented 
to act a prominent part in a scene where an attempt was 
made to lift the dark veil of futurity. De la Guerron- 
niere, in his " Portraits Politigues," thus relates the anec- 
dote. Though we attach little real importance to such tri- 
fles, yet they are sometimes not without a certain interest. 

^^It was the year 1834. Queen Hortense was at 
Bome. A celebrated magnetizer was invited to her 
residence to exert his influence on a negress somnambu- 
list, who had already displayed very surprising powers 
of clairvoyancy. She was soon cast into the magnetic 
sleep. Queen Hortense had but one fixed idea, and her 
heart was centred in that. She believed her son Napo- 
leon Louis destined to pick up the sword and sceptre 
that had fallen from the hands of the hero after his glo- 
rious defeat. Accordingly she heaped question on ques- 
tion, to penetrate the future. At last the medium, as if 
inspired, suddenly cries out, "Ah, I see him happy 
and triumphant ; a great nation takes him for her chief" 
''For her emperor, is it not?" exclaims the mother. 



208 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

breathless, and in rapture. " For emperor/' replied the 
clairvoyant, " never ! " 

M. De la Gueronniere related this prediction when 
Louis Napoleon was president of the republic, and con- 
fidently declared it to be the decree of fate, " because," 
said he, " it is the decree of the sovereignty and dignity 
of the nation." 

Can we not say it is, at least, as good a prediction as 
many another put forward with more pretension ? 



CHAPTER XV 



Writings of Louis Napoleon during his Imprisonment in 
Ham. — " Historical Fragments^ — Letter of Chateaubri- 
and. — " Analysis of the Sugar Question.'^ 

Faithful to our plan of giving our readers every 
opportunity to form for themselves as correct an opinion 
as may be regarding the nature and character of the 
man whose name at the present moment is ringing loud- 
est in the world's ear — whose colossal power, already 
awful in its proportions, seems to gather new strength 
from reverses which annihilate that of his less fortunate 
allies — whose impress on his age (if he he only left 
among us long enough) not only ourselves shall live to 
see, but countless future generations shall feel and ac- 
knowledge, — we say, desirous to assist our readers, as 
far as our humble means permit, in arriving at a correct 
opinion regarding the nature of such a man, we shall 
devote a chapter or two to a general examination of the 
remainder of his most interesting literary works. The 
monotony of his long imprisonment, leaying us little or 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 209 

no incident to record, renders tlie present point at wliich 
our sket«li has arrived the most favorable for such a pur- 
pose. "When he enters the world again, important events 
crowd on each other so raj^idly, we see him borne away 
so violently by the current of circumstances, that we 
shall have neither the time nor the will to stop and 
calmly reflect on the scope and tendency of the thought- 
ful productions of his pen. Besides, being better ac- 
quainted with, at least, the general turn of his mind 
regarding certain interesting questions, we shall be in a 
position to judge of the extent to which his actions ac- 
company his professions, and to conclude how far a con- 
jecture regarding his subsequents may be formed from 
his antecedents. 

The first work, of importance produced within the 
prison walls was entitled ^^ Historical Fragments — 1688 
and 1830," and was published in May, 1841. M. Gui- 
zot, the eminent French statesman, in his '' History of 
the English Revolution," having sought to establish a 
parallel between the British revolution of 1688 and that 
of the French in 1830, between William III. and Louis 
Philippe, the prince wrote his " Fragment " by way of 
reply; not only denying the grounds for Guizot's con- 
clusions, but even attempting to show that if any paral- 
lel existed at all, it was on the other side ; implying 
that Louis Philippe resembled James XL rather than Wil- 
liam III., and that if the French wanted to consolidate 
their liberties on as lasting a basis as the English did 
theirs in 1688, they should rid themselves at once and 
forever of the Bourbons, as the latter people then did 
of the weak and unhappy Stuarts. The latter object of 
his work, however, was very covertly aimed at. The 
subject, though not without interest, being hardly im- 
18* 



210 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

portant enougli at the present time to warrant us in pur- 
suing his arguments all through, we shall only present a 
few of his most striking passages. 

To a superficial eye English history at one period pre- 
sented the most glaring inconsistencies. They adored 
the arbitrary rule of Elizabeth, and overthrew the much 
less arbitrary power of Charles I. They revolted against 
this prince for the illegal levy of some taxes, yet they 
soon allowed themselves to be taxed and governed with- 
out control and without law by Cromwell. They came 
of their own free will to abjure their revolution at the 
feet of Charles II., and afterwards cursed his reign and 
upset his brother. And yet, according to the prince^ 
there is no inconsistency whatever in all this. 

" The English," he says, ^* wanted the same things 
all through this period of their history, and did not rest 
until they had obtained the object of their wishes. From 
the sixteenth century the English tried to get, — 

" Firstly — and above all things — the establishment 
of their reformed religion, which comprehended all na- 
tional interests. 

" Secondly — the preponderance of their navy, and 
consequently an increased influence on the continent. 

" Thirdly — the full use of their freedom. 

*^ Elizabeth confirmed the triumph of the cause of 
Protestantism, she added to the national glory, and her 
memory was revered. 

" The republic and the Protector concealed their des- 
potic and selfish views under the name of national dig- 
nity. They passed away. 

" The Stuarts went counter to the three great wishes 
of the majority of England. They fell. 

" William III. alone confirmed at once the religion, 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 211 

the glory, and tlie liberties of his country. He consoli- 
dated his work. 

" It is not, then, chance which rules the fate of na- 
tions I it is not an unforeseen circumstance which over- 
throws or supports thrones : there is a general cause 
which regulates events, and which makes them really 
dependent on each other. 

*' A. government may often violate the laws, and even 
liberty, with impunity ; but unless it truly puts itself at 
the head of the great interests of civilization, it can only 
have a transient existence ; and the plain, philosophical 
reason, which is the cause of its death, is called fatality, 
when it is wished to avoid the true reason. 

" England required nearly a century of struggles be- 
tween society and the evil passions of those in power, 
and vice versa, before she could ever erect that immense 
English structure ivhich we have hated, which we have 
tried to overthrow, hut which we cannot hut admire. 

" The revolution of 1688 has procured for England 
one hundred and fifty-three years of prosperity, gran- 
deur, and liberty. 

" Will the revolution of July bestow the same bless- 
ings on France ? The future must settle this question. 

" Without wishing to pry into the mysteries of Prov- 
idence, let us content ourselves with examining the 
causes and effects of these great political dramas, and 
seek in the history of the past some consolation for our 
ills, some hope for our country." 

Then he sets forth the causes that led to the English 
revolution. 

" England," he says, " tired of civil wars, disabused 
of the sacredness of parties and the excellence of the 
regal power, preserved but one object of hatred, one of 



212 XIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

love, as the result of her struggles — hatred of Popery 
and love of power." 

To explain the anomaly of a Catholic writer taking 
part with the Protestant side, he gives the following 
note : — 

*' In recording the principal facts of the revolution in 
England, one naturally feels a reluctance, as a Catholic, 
to treat those men with contempt who supported that 
religion in Great Bi'itain ; but, on a close investigation, 
we see the justice of disliking those who, by their blind 
zeal and rashness, compromised and rendered the true 
doctrine of Christ unpopular in England, by making it a 
handle for a party, and the instrument of their passions. 
Their conduct should be branded ; for never had the 
Catholic religion found so genial a soil as that of Eng- 
land, to rule by the purity of its principles and its moral 
influence. Persecuted by the royal power, it followed 
the example of the aristocracy, and to avenge its wrongs 
put itself at the head of the national liberties. This was 
an admirable position for action, for it was independent 
of the temporal power, only acknowledging as chief the 
Chief of the universal church, while the Anglicans then 
only derived their rights and privileges from the will 
and power of the head of the government. But the 
Catholic clergy, dazzled by worldly interests, lost them- 
selves by joining the oppressors of, the people instead of 
joining the oppressed. Every enlightened mind was so 
well convinced that the Stuarts were about to ruin the 
cause of religion, that Pope Innocent IX. loudly ex- 
pressed his displeasure at the imprudent conduct of 
James 11. , and the cardinals of Rome said, jestingly, that 
' James II. ought to be excommunicated, as a man who 
was about to destroy the remnant of Catholicism that was 
left in England.' " 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 2l3 

Having presented us with a picture of tlie faults of 
James's government, he contrasts therewith WiUiam's 
prudent measures, and praises him for grounding his 
claims on the sovereignty of the people, who alone could 
legitimize his usurpation. 

The following, though true enough as a piece of his- 
tory, is not without another meaning. 

'^ The prince did not abuse his triumph on the first 
feeling of enthusiasm which the people entertained for 
their deliverer. William did not come to take a crown 
by assault ; he came to consolidate the destinies of Eng- 
land ; he had destroyed the principle of hereditary suc- 
cession, a principle hitherto regarded as inviolable and 
sacred ; and he could only combat it by another princi- 
ple, that of the sovereignty of the people. An acquired 
and acknowledged right can only be done away by giving 
in its stead another right, legally acquired and acknowl- 
edged. Counsellors were not wanting who advised him 
to take possession of the government by right of con- 
quest, as WilHam the Conqueror had done, forgetting 
that six hundred years of civilization had added more to 
the strength of the national right than to that of the 
sword. Others also urged him to seize the crown, repre- 
senting the dangers of anarchy, that convenient phantom 
which always serves as an excuse to tyranny. 

"William remained firm ; he would not be a usurper." 

Farther on he says of William, — 

*^ His conduct was reserved and dignified ; he had 
remained unmoved amidst the passions which raged 
around him, and had not entered into any intrigues either 
with the electors or members of Parliament. He was 
frequently blamed for his cold and distant manner to 
those whose interest he required ; but William's great 



214 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

mind disdained popularity acquired by meanness. * * 
This was indeed a sublime proof that he was not dazzled 
by the splendor of a crown, but that he was desirous 
of fulfilling his mission, and of rendering his cause 
triumphant." 

"William, after his election, meets numberless difficul- 
ties from the republicans, the partisans of the old dynasty, 
and the jealousy of the religious sects. 

'' What means shall he employ to surmount them ? 
One only, and it will succeed. It is to remain faithful 
to the cause of the revolution which had summoned him, 
and to render it triumphant at home by its justice, and 
formidable abroad by its boldness." 

The prince admires his foreign and home policy. 

Externally, he maintained a bloody war against the 
enemies of his country until he obtained an advanta- 
geous peace ; internally, he displayed great constancy in 
his attempts to reconcile the parties, and wonderful 
firmness in the rigorous measures proposed against the 
Catholics. " When the deputation from the Scotch 
church," the prince subjoins in a note, ^^ brought Wil- 
liam its declaration, they said to him, among other 
things, that they hoped he would destroy the Catholic 
heresy. But William interrupted them to decldre that 
he did not understand persecution." 

Are not the following passages, though descriptive of 
a state of things one hundred and sixty-six years ago, 
rather applicable at the present day ? 

" Though there was a party opposed to the new state 
of things, which was called the republican or revolution- 
ary party, they kept quiet, which proved that if they 
did not make common cause with William, they still 
thought that he guaranteed the general interests against 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 215 

the common enemy. * * * There were also some 
of those fanatics who place the destinies of their coun- 
try on the point of the dagger, who attempted the king's 
life ; but they were sent back with contempt to the or- 
dinary tribunals, under the idea that giving too much 
publicity to an attempt at assassination was encouraging 
others." 

Having shown that "William's conduct after ascending 
the throne was any thing but a parallel to that of Louis 
Philippe, he proceeds to examine the policy of the Stu- 
arts, compares it with that of the government of July, 
and concludes that the eleven years that had just elapsed 
in Trance, from 1830 to the moment of his writing, 
rather resembled the epochs that commence revolutions 
than those which end them. 

Chapter III. contains a pretty accurate sketch of the 
embarrassments and faults of Charles I. in the first part, 
and in the second an able picture of the follies of 
Charles II., and of the grievances and discontents pro- 
duced by his disgraceful reign. The author terminates 
by summing up the causes of the fall of the Stuarts, 
and of the greatness of "William III. Let us cite a few 
passages. 

" The Stuarts never sought by the application of any 
great principle, if they could assure the prosperity and 
independence of their country, but by what little expe- 
dients, by what hidden intrigues, they could support 
their always troubled power. 

" They desired to reestablish Catholicity : they anni- 
hilated it for centuries in England. They wished to ele- 
vate royalty : they only compromised it. They wished 
to assure order, and they brought confusion on confu- 
sion. It is a true saying, then, that 



216 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^ The greatest enemy to religion is the man who would 
impose it; the greatest foe to royalty is he ivho degrades 
it ; the greatest enemy to the repose of his country is he 
who renders a revolution necessary. 

'' Let us now consider what would have been the 
consequences, if the prince, after having dethroned 
James II,, and violated the hereditary principle, had ac- 
cepted the throne from James II. 's last Parliament, and 
instead of convoking a nationah assembly — the free ex- 
pression of the popular will — had held his authority 
from a bastard assembly, who would not have any right 
to present him with it." 

In this manner he continues, by way of praising the 
conduct of William III., to fling very unmistakable in- 
nuendoes on Louis Philippe and his government. 

^'William III. satisfied the exigencies of his reign, 
and reestablished public order ; but had he followed the 
Stuart policy he would have destroyed it, and the ene- 
mies of the English nation, on again witnessing a desire 
for change, would have accused the people of inconsis- 
tency 2indi frivolity, instead of accusing the government 
of blindness and perfidy. It would have been asserted 
that England was an ungovernable nation. 

" The history of England calls loudly to monarchs, 
^ March at the head of the ideas of youe, age, 

AND then these IDEAS WILL FOLLOW AND SUPPORT 
YOU. 

«f f If you march behind them, they will drag 

YOU ON. 

" ' And if you march against them, they will 
certainly prove your downfall.' " 

At the time these " Historical Fragments " made their 
appearance, M. Chateaubriand was still living. The 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 217 

illustrious author of the "Genius of Christianity/' an 
uncompromising royalist, and, consequently, the bitter- 
est foe of the " Citizen King " and his party, no sooner 
saw the pamphlet, than he sent the following opinion of 
its merits to the author : — 

" Prince : In the midst of your misfortunes, you have 
studied with as much sagacity as power the causes of a 
revolution which, 'in modern Europe, has opened the 
way to the calamities of monarchy. Your love of liberty, 
your courage, and your sufferings, vv^oukl give you every 
claim in my eyes, only that to be worthy of your es- 
teem, I must remain as faithful to the misfortunes of 
Henry Y. as I am to the glory of Napoleon. 

" Allow me, prince, to thank you for the extreme 
honor you have done me in quoting my name in your 
fine work. This precious testimony of your recollec- 
tion penetrates me with the most lively gratitude. 

^* I am, &c., 

*^ Chateaubriand," 

His next work appeared in 1842, and proved that his 
studies, were not confined to political questions, but 
likewise embraced questions of industrial and social 
economy. It was entitled ^^ Analysis of the Sugar 
Question" and went pretty deeply into the subject. Its 
appearance was very timely. The government was de- 
bating whether they should encourage or restrain the 
production of native sugar — that made of the beet root 
— by increasing or diminishing the tariff on the colony 
sugar — that of the cane. Not only the interests of the 
home manufacturers were concerned in the question, 
but what was considered of still graver importance, the 
19 



218 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

entire future, and tlie very existence of tlie French 
colonies. 

It is hardly a hundred years ago since Margraf, a 
chemist of Berlin^ discovered in the beet root a sugar 
capable of crystallization, identically similar to that of 
the suo-ar-cane. It is to two other Prussians that man- 
kind is indebted for the first attempts to make the dis- 
covery available to European industry. These attempts, 
however, made in 1780, had little op no success. The 
first successful results date from 1810, and it was to the 
French chemists, and to the encouragement of every de- 
scription showered upon them by ISTapoleon, that this 
partial success was due. The emperor had excluded 
English commerce from the continent, and wished to 
render France independent of her great rival, whose 
ships had hitherto supplied her with sugar, as well as 
with most other foreign productions. However, it was 
not until towards 1830 that the extraction of native 
sugar became an important part of French industry. 
From this epoch it increased so rapidly that, in 1837, 
there existed more than five hundred sugar factories in 
France, producing every year about fifty thousand tons 
of refined sugar. Raising sugar, in fact, became one of 
the most productive branches of French industry. Louis 
Philippe's government, thinking that such a develop- 
ment was unnaturally great, contemplated restricting it, 
either by a law limiting the number of establishments 
engaged in the business, or by reducing the high pro- 
tective tarifis, which were almost as galling to the colo- 
nies as to foreign lands. The sugar manufacturers, 
seriously alarmed, were about preparing a document to 
submit to the government, urging the necessity of pro- 
tecting home manufacture, when, hearing that a pam- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 219 

phlet on the question had been published by Louis Na- 
poleon, they examined it, and considered it to represent 
their case so well that they requested of the author three 
thousand copies, for distribution among the members of 
the government and other parties interested. 

The question is a vast and complex one. The author 
enters into it extensively. He examines it in all its 
details, as a chemist, as a practical man, as an economist. 
He regards it from every point of view. He has an eye 
on the interest of the metropolis, on that of the colo- 
nies, on that of the producers, on that of the consumers, 
on that of the treasury. 

Of course, we are not going to analyze this pamphlet. 
It is not of a nature to interest the generality of our 
readers. It will be sufficient then to say in general, that 
the conclusions of the author tend to the protection and 
encouragement of native sugar, without detriment, how- 
ever, to the colonies, to whom he purposes granting par- 
ticular advantages ; snch as opening their ports to foreign 
nations, in compensation for the maintenance or even 
augmentation of a tariff, which weighed so heavily on 
their productions. ^^ Let us not," he says, in conclu- 
sion,. " build false systems of commercial prosperity on 
the ruin of a flourishing and national industry. Let us 
not forget the maxim of Montesquieu — Injustice and 
cowardice are had managers. 

" As to native industry, let it raise its head : its ene- 
mies will hesitate before they give it the last blow. The 
chambers, we hope, will cover it with their protecting 
votes, and that daughter of the empire will return to 
life, if, instead of abandoning herself and seeking alms, 
she proudly vindicates her rights, and replies to her ad- 
versaries, ' Respect me, for I enrich the soil ; I fertilize 



220 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

lands which without me ivould remain uncultivated. 1 
employ hands which without me would remain idle. In 
a word, I resolve one of the greatest problems of modern 
society. I organize and moralize labor. ^ " 

By way of compromise^ the number of sugar manu- 
factories was reduced to tliree hundred and eight, though, 
in consequence of the recent improvements introduced 
in the process, the quantity of native sugar to-day pro- 
duced in France is greater than that produced by the 
five hundred that existed in 1837. 



CHAPTER XVIe 

Notice of " Extinction of Pauperism^ — Letters of Berau" 
ger to the Prince. — Madame Pudevanfs Insight into the 
Character of Louis Napoleon, and the Apprehensions of 
the Socialist Party i?i case of his Accession to Power. 

The prisoner of Ham published his next work in 
May, 1844. It was a pamphlet of about fifty pages, 
entitled " Extinction of Pauperism." To extinguish 
pauperism, to procure for the suffering classes relief, 
comfort, some share, in short, in the advantages of civ- 
ilization, — this is a task worthy of the noblest heart, 
but perhaps too much, even, for the profound est intel- 
lect. Let us see how our author deals with it. 

That Louis Napoleon is naturally possessed of a sin- 
cere desire to promote the welfare of his fellow-crea- 
tures, few possessing even a general knowledge of the 
man any longer entertain a doubt. " It is natural," he 
wrote in his captivity, *^ for the unhappy to think on 
those who suffer;" and considering the idea generally 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 221 

prevalent among European philantliroplsts, that pauper- 
ism is a necessary evil, for which there is no remedy 
except the poTir law bastiles, we must acknowledge that 
it was very creditable in the young prince to devote the 
best powers of his mind to the problem of mitigating, 
if not remedying, the evils that afflict so many of his 
fellow-creatures. Now that he is seated on a mighty 
throne, with so many other distracting questions to en- 
gross his attention, it would not be very surprising if he 
forgot many of the maxims regarding rights of labor, to 
which he gave expression in his dungeon. Yet we all 
know that the employment of the poorer classes is the 
object of his constant care, and that at this very time, 
(June, 1855,) leaving the great industrial exhibition al- 
together out of the question, such gigantic improvements 
are in progress in Paris that there is hardly an idle hand 
left in the whole city. 

He thus enters on his subject : — 

" The riches of a country depend on the prosperity 
of agriculture and industry, on the development of com- 
merce at home and abroad, and on the just and equitable 
division of the public revenues. 

" There is not one of these different elements of pros- 
perity which is not undermined in France by organic 
vices in our social position. All men of independent 
minds acknowledge this ; they only differ as to the reme- 
dies to be applied. 

" Agriculture. — It is proved that the extreme 
division of properties tends to the ruin of agriculture ; 
and yet the reestablishment of the law of birthright, 
which maintained the large properties, is impossible. 
We must even congratulate ourselves, in a political 
point of view, that it is so. 

19* • 



222 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

"^ Industhy. — This source of wealth has now neither 
rule J nor organization^ nor aim. It is an engine which 
works without a regulator : it little regards what motive 
force it employs. Crushing equally men and materials 
under its wheels, it depopulates the country, crowds 
people into small spaces without room to breathe, weak- 
ens the mind as well as the body, and afterwards throws 
out on the street, when she no longer requires them, the 
men who have sacrificed their strength, their youth, and 
their existence in her service. A true Saturn of labor. 
Industry devours her children, and lives only by their 
destruction. 

" Must we, however, to remedy these defects, place 
her under a yoke of iron ; rob her of this liberty which 
is her sole existence ; in a word, kill her because she is 
a murderess, without giving her credit for the immense 
benefits she confers ? And yet an efficacious remedy is 
required for the evils of industry ; the general good of 
• the country, the voice of humanity, the interest even of 
the government, demand it imperatively." 

Such remarks as these show clearly that if the present 
emperor fail in governing France, it will not be for 
want of a knowledge of her necessities, or of a sympa- 
thy for her grievances. 

Let us continue : — 

" Intehioe, Commekce. — Interior commerce suffers, 
because industry, producing too much in comparison to 
the small retribution she gives to labor, and agriculture 
not producing enough, the nation is composed of pro- 
ducers that cannot sell, and famished consumers who 
cannot buy ; and the want of equilibrium of the situa- 
tion obliges the government, here as in England, to seek 
in China some thousands of consumers in presence of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 223 

millions of French, or Englisli, who are destitute of every 
thing, and who, if they could purchase food and suitable 
clothing, would create a far greater commercial move- 
ment than the most advantageous treaties. 

" Exterior Commerce. The causes which paralyze 
our export trade from France are too closely allied with 
politics for us to speak of them here ; suffice it to say, 
that the quantity of merchandise a country exports is 
always in direct proportion to the number of bullets she 
can send among her enemies when her honor and digni- 
ty demand it. The events which have lately passed in 
China are a proof of this assertion. 

^^ Let us now speak of taxation. 

" There are few countries in Europe so highly taxed 
as France ; she would be, perhaps, the richest country 
in the world if the public fortune was directed in a more 
equitable manner. 

" E-aising taxes may be compared to the influence of 
the sun, which draws up the vapors from the earth, to 
scatter them afterwards in showers over every place 
which requires rain to render it fertile and productive. 
When this restitution takes place regularly, fertility en- 
sues ; but when heaven in its wrath pours it out partially, 
in storms, waterspouts, and in tempests, the germs of 
production are destroyed, and barrenness ensues, be- 
cause some received far too much, and others not 
enough. Yet, whatever may have been the genial or 
iingenial state of the atmosphere, generally at the end 
of each year the same quantity of water has been taken 
up and given back. The division, then, makes the dif- 
ference ; when it is equitable and regular, it creates 
abundance ; when lavish and partial, it is followed by 
scarcity. 



224 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

'^ The effects are tlie same of a good or bad govern- 
ment. If tlie sums raised every year on the generality 
of the inhabitants are employed for unproductive pur- 
poseSj as in creating useless appointments^ erecting use- 
less monuments, or keeping up during profound peace 
a more expensive army than that which conquered at 
Austerlitz, taxation, in this case, becomes an insupporta- 
ble burden ; it exhausts the country, it absorbs without 
returning. But if, on the contrary, these resources are 
employed to create new elements of produce, to rees- 
tablish the equihbrium of wealth, to destroy misery by 
promoting and organizing labor, in fine, to cure the 
evils that civilization brings with her, then certainly tax- 
ation becomes, as was once said by a minister at the trib- 
une, the best iimestment for the public. 

" It is in the budget that we must seek the first sup- 
port for every system which has for its object the relief 
of the working classes." 

Savings banks, he says, are useful in one respect, but 
evidently of no value whatever to men without the 
means of existence. 

What then is to be done ? 

Here is his reply. 

" Our law of the equal division of property is the 

J ruin of agriculture. We must remedy this defect by an 
association which, whilst employing all the unoccupied 
hands, creates large praperties, and puts them under cul-r 
ture, without injury to our political principles. 

" Industry (manufacturing industry) calls men into 
cities and enervates them. We must recall the overplus 
of the cities into the country, and renovate their minds 
and bodies by the fresh air. 

'* The worhing classes possess nothing ; we must 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 225 

make them landholders. Tlaeir only fortunes are the 
sinews of tlieir arms ; we must give these arms an em- 
plojanent which will be useful to all. They are as a 
tribe of Helots in the midst of a tribe of Sybarites. 
We must give them a place in society, and attach their 
interests to the soil. The}^ are now without an organ- 
ization, and without ties, without rights, and without a 
future ; we must give them rights and a future, and 
raise them in their oavu good opinion by promoting asso- 
ciation, education, and good order." 

This is the plan. Now for its realization. 

" Three things are necessary : First, a law ; secondly, 
an investment of funds taken from the budget ; thirdly, 
an organization." 

According to our author there are about twenty mil- 
lions of acres of uncultivated land in France, which 
yield a very triiling revenue — are, in fact, a dead capi- 
tal, and of no profit to any one. He proposes that the 
Chambers decree that all these lands belong by right to 
the "Workmen's Association, which should cultivate them, 
and form agricultural colonies. The state should ad- 
vance the necessary funds, three hundred millions of 
francs, (about sixty million dollars,) paid by instalments 
in four years ; it could do so without difficulty, and 
find it a magnificent investment. 

For the organization and discipline of the masses, he 
would create between the workmen and their employers 
an intermediary class, enjoying privileges legally ac- 
knowledged, and elected by all the workmen. This in- 
termediary class would form the body of representatives 
or middle men, (prud'hommes.) ^Every year the work- 
men should assemble in the communes to elect their 
middle men, in the proportion of one middle man of 
known probity to ten of the workmen. 



228 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

Each head of a manufactory, or farm, &c., should be 
obliged by law to employ a middle man, if he have ten 
workmen, to guide them, and to give him a salary 
double the amount of what he pays a workman. 

" These middle men should fill the same part in the 
working class that the non-commissioned officers do in 
the army. They should form the first step of the social 
hierarchy. 

^^ Supposing that there are twenty-five millions of men 
who live from day to day by their labor, we shall have 
two millions and a half of middle men, to whom they 
can speak unreservedly, as tliey^at once participate in 
the interests of those who obey, and in the ideas of those 
who command. 

•^^ These middle men should be divided into tv/o 
classes ; one should remain in private industry ; the other 
should be employed in the agricultural establishments ; 
and, we repeat it, this different mission should be the 
result of the right of direct election given to the work- 
men." 

The author then enters into the details of the organ- 
ization of the agricultural colonies which he proposes. 
They were to spread all over France, and should be di- 
rected by a discipline almost military ; only all the au- 
thorities should proceed from election. To excite the 
emulation of the laborers, a sum should be reserved out 
of the profits of each establishment for the purpose of 
creating a separate sum for each workman, who might 
thus amass in the course of years what would suffice to 
insure his comfort for the remainder of his life, even out 
of the colony. ^ 

The author then brings forward calculations of the 
receipts and expenditures of such colonies, and reckon- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 227 

ing the former at tlie lowest^ and the latter at the high- 
est probable sums, concludes that with an immediate 
expenditure of about sixty million dollars, the colonies, 
at the end of twenty-three years, would clear a net profit 
of at least a hundred and sixty million dollars ; 200,000 
families and 150,000 workmen of the poor class would 
have been fed, clothed, and lodged ; France would be 
enriched by twelve millions of new cattle, and the gov- 
ernment would receive a revenue of seven million dol- 
lars from the ground rent alone of the improved prop- 
erty. And these results he declares far below the reality, 
and demands a patient hearing before they are pro- 
nounced impossible. 

" To conclude," he says, '' the system that we pro- 
pose is the result of all the reflections, of all the aspi- 
rations sent forth by the most competent authorities 
for half a century. 

" Every man, really endowed with a love for his fel- 
low-creatures, is desirous that justice should at length 
be done to the working classes, which still seem deprived 
of all the advantages that civilization procures. Our 
project gives them every thing that improves the condition 
of man, — independence, education, and government, — 
and to each the possibility of raising himself by merit. 

" Our organization tends to nothing less than convert- 
ing the poorest class of the present day into one of the 
richest associations in France." 

He thus concludes : — 

" Two centuries ago. La Fontaine uttered a sentence 
too often true, yet most melancholy, and destructive of 
all society, of all rule, and of a^ hierarchy. ^ I tell 
you in plain terms, our master is our enemy ! ' At this 
period, the object of all enlightened governments should 



228 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tend by its efforts to hasten the period when men may 
exclaim, The triumph of Christianity has destroyed 
slavery — the triumph of the French Revolution has put 
an end to bondage — the triumph of democratic ideas 
has caused the extinction of pauperism ! " 

We think this y/ork merits the extent of our quota- 
tions. We think it full of promise. Of course the ideas 
of the author must have been somev/hat modified since 
its publication. Experience, by elucidating the different 
parts of a system so plausible in theory, must have shown 
its defects in practice. The plans of the Emperor of 
Erance cannot be precisely the same in 1855 as those 
of the prisoner of Ham in 1844 ; still it is not unreason- 
able to expect, from his omnipotence of the present day, 
some permanent institution that would go far to secure 
the rights of labor, and alleviate the sufferings of the 
poorer classes. 

Besides these great questions, which Louis Napoleon 
entered into elaborately, and investigated in pamphlets 
or volumes, he frequently wrote articles for the papers, 
in which he discussed the questions of the day as a 
statesman, an economist, or a friend of social progress. 
Of these it must suffice to say that the greater number 
appeared in the " Pr ogres du Pas de Calais/^ that all 
bore marks of profound study, and that, though they 
were often disfigured by ill-concealed illiberality towards 
the government, no candid man can read them to-day 
without being obliged to acknowledge that France has 
fallen into the hands of a master who possesses the 
ability to understand, at least, the sources of her com- 
plaints and the tendency of her aspirations. 

In the mean time the following letters are presented, 
to give our readers an idea of the regard for the prince 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL *229 

and his writings, generally entertained by the socialist 
party. The first two were written by Beranger, the 
great national French poet. 

October 14, 1842. 

^^ Peince : The person who has presented me with the 
pamphlet which you have done me the honor to send to 
my address assures me that you will not find it disa- 
greeable to receive directly the thanks which I owe you. 
I hasten then, prince, to express the satisfaction I have 
enjoyed in reading your works ; they have, particularly, 
filled me with admiration for your courage in devoting 
the long hours of your captivity to such useful labors. 

" The pamphlet on the sugar question has given me 
the greatest surprise. I can perfectly conceive your 
historical studies, and the just reflections they suggest ; 
but I cannot conceive, prince, how you have fathomed a 
subject purely industrial and financial. You have, to 
my idea, completely elucidated this question of opposing 
interests on every point, except, perhaps, if you will 
permit me to say so, on that of the consumer, who has 
always been a little neglected by the great ones of this 
world. 

^^ May you one day, prince, be in a position to conse- 
crate to our common country the fruits of the knowledge 
v/hich you have already acquired, and which you shall 
still acquire. And until you, and all the members of 
your illustrious family, are restored, as is only just, to 
the rights of a French citizen, believe in the ardent 
wishes I entertain to see a termination of your captivity, 
assured as I am that you would devote yourself hence- 
forth to literary and scientific labors, which must add a 
new ray to the splendid aureola of the name you bear. 

'^ Beranger." 
20 



230 LIFE OP NAPOLEON HI. 

The next was written after reading the ^'Extinction 
of Pauj)erism.'' 

" Prince : I have the honor to thank you for sending 
me your work. It deserves the admiration of all the 
friends of humanity. The idea to which you give utter- 
ance in this too short pamphlet is one of those best cal- 
culated to ameliorate the condition of the industrial and 
laboring classes. It is not my part, prince, to judge of 
the accuracy of the calculations by which you maintain 
it ; but I can fully appreciate their value ;. I have too 
often indulged in dreams, which had the same objects in 
view as your generous intentions, not to do so. By a 
good fortune, of which I am very proud, my fireside 
Utopias singularly approach those projects which you 
develop so clearly, and support by such unanswerable 
arguments. 

"It is less through vanity, prince, that I here allude 
to my speculations, than to show you the satisfaction that 
your work was calculated to afford me. 

" It is noble in you, in the midst of the tediums and 
sufferings of captivity, to interest yourself thus, prince, 
with that portion of your fellow-countrymen whose evils 
are so numerous and menacing. It is the best means, 
and the worthiest of the name you bear, to prove the in- 
justice of those statesmen who hesitate so long in restor- 
ing you to your liberty and your native land. With the 
best wishes that you may soon recover both, &c. 

" Beranger." 

June 30, 1844. 

To those of our readers who are acquainted with the 
writings of George Sand^ the following extract of a 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 231 

letter from the hands of that singular but most highly- 
gifted woman can hardly fail to be interesting. It is 
unnecessary to say that she fully represents the ideas of 
the ultra and sincerely republican party. 

" Meanwhile you need not affect the idea which you 
attribute to me, gratuitously enough, of my regarding 
myself a political person. O, no ! I never entertained 
such a ridiculous thought. My dear prince, at the time 
in which we live, I have simplicity enough to protest 
against all politics, not being able to embrace the opinions 
of any party. I have but a poor head, full of Utopian 
ideas. * * * j have read your writings ; you^ 
most certainly, are possessed of convictions, enthusiasm, 
and a feeling of greatness, and ability into the bargain ; 
but let me say, heroic child, you are such as my father 
would have gloried to be — you are a Bonapartist. 
And we also, even we, would have maintained such a 
title with pride against the anathema of the stupid res- 
toration, had we been ten years older, or fifty years 
younger. But should we, who were never intoxicated 
by the direct magnetism of your giant uncle, see in the 
past any thing but the revolution commenced in 1789, 
and brought to a close in 1804 ? You may say what 
you like, the transformation of the revolution in his per- 
son may have been necessary, providential, — it certainly 
was as magnificent and brilliant as the sun, — but equal- 
ity proclaimed by the Convention — what became of it 
under his sword ? Do not think that we wish to repu- 
diate what there was sublime in him. No ! but the 
fatality he carried with him is what we do not care to 
begin again with ; we do not think it any longer neces- 
sary, and we feel it would be fatal. We have, indeed, 
ijiany things besides to guard and defend against 



232 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Europe, as well as the riglit of not selecting onr own gen- 
eral and our own emperor. We have to conquer the 
right of not selecting any more monarchs, and of not 
enduring any more the dictatorship of generals. In 
line, since I have given way to the impulse of writing to 
you to thank you for having thought of me, my soul is, 
as it were, divided into two parts — the necessity of ad- 
miring you, and of believing in you — and I do not 
Ijnow what besides, but something like dread of the ter- 
rible name which you bear. I deem myself bound to 
protest against those dreams of your heroism ; yet it fills 
me hot with horror — for a prisoner has nothing left but 
his dreams, and it is, therefore, so very inhuman to coun- 
teract them ! You ought to hate me, to hate all those 
republicans who cannot love you without afflicting you. 
A friend of mine told me the other day that he had said 
to you things of the very description calculated to be 
painful to your feelings ; but on seeing that you were 
thankful for his candor, he went away so touched with 
your greatness of mind, and your goodness, that he was 
not able to refrain from tears. O, yes, indeed, I well 
understand one might shed tears of tenderness over 
you ; but I understand also that one should prefer to 
rend one's heart rather than betray the great conqueress^ 
the great empress, the great and most holy Equality. 

^^ Are you going to say you are its champion as well 
as ourselves ? I would have believed it indeed, before 
reading your volume, but can do so no more. 

" You must think us fools for dreaming of attaining 
the end without those powerful means in a rather war- 
like and absolute shape ; as to me, I do not know what 
we might be doomed to accept. I am not so closely 
connected with the political world as to have any 



LIFE OF NAPOLEO^q- III. 233 

distinct anticipation on the subject^ but I dread the man 
"who would come to spread the wings of the imperial 
eagle over the popular legions. I would not come to 
clap him on the shoulder^ like FalstafF, telling him^ " God 
save thee, sweet boy." We know too well how Shak- 
speare's Henry Y. answered his merry fellows, Sir John, 
Bardolph, and Pistol ; but I could never make up my 
mind to think that that young eagle would not allow 
himself to grow intoxicated by the smell of gunpowder ; 
and that then he would not fly through the smoke of 
victory much higher than he at first intended to soar. 
So it is, dear prince ; pardon me, I adhere dotingly to 
the mountain for the past, and for the time to come to 
the thoroughly levelled plain. 

'^ Do not regret having shown me confidence and 
kindness ; I value them, and should never abuse them ; 
it remains, however, for you to consider whether you 
may or not continue to notice such an ungovernable being. 

*^ As to me, I shall retain as one of the most agreeable 
souvenirs of my life the remembrance of your kind- 
ness. You see I call you ' prince ; ' since you think your 
dignity calls upon you to preserve this title, it will never 
be for me to find it less legitimate than any of those of 
the ancient dynasties ; but — but — I am not entitled to 
give you advice." 

The only other important work written by the prince, 
during his captivity, was the first volume of *' The Past 
and Future of Artillery." He intended to complete it 
in five volumes, with engravings ; but his escape inter- 
rupted the design, and he had no opportunity afterwards 
to resume it. 

We shall conclude this imperfect notice of the princi- 
pal works of Louis Napoleon by asking the reader, who 
20* 



234 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

has- even only cursorily glanced at tlie extracts we have 
given, what he thinks of the opinion of Victor Hugo, 
who persists in calling the prince ^^ a vulgar, common- 
place personage, puerile, theatrical, and vain " ? Instead 
of coinciding with the brilliant satirist, will he not re- 
gard the prisoner of Ham as a man of very considerable 
talent, which deep love of study and most untiring in- 
dustry have enabled him fully to cultivate ? He has, no 
doubt, also remarked that, though of a cold, uncommu- 
nicative temperament, and therefore little likely to in- 
spire popular enthusiasm, Louis Napoleon is not without 
the gift of acquiring the most faithful and devoted per- 
sonal friends. We shall now resume our narrative. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

Great Reputation gained for Louis Napoleon by his Works. — 
The People of Central America solicit him, in case of Lib- 
eration, to superintend their contemplated Ship Canal. — 
Correspondence on the Subject. — Application of Louis 
JBonaparte, attacked by serious Illness j to see his Son at his 
Bedside, refused by the French Government. — The Prince's 
Letter to the King meets no better Success. — The Prisoner 
rejects the Terms offered by Government, and determines to 
effect his Escape at the first Opportunity, 

If the composition of these works did not quite re- 
lieve the weariness of captivity, it had a powerful effect 
in maturing the prince's powers of thought, and spread- 
ing his reputation, not only among his own countrymen, 
but even to the distant regions of the new world. In 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 235 

1843 the inhabitants of Central America, anticipating 
an approaching amnesty, besought the prince to make 
their shores his home for the remainder of his life. To 
this honorable invitation he did not appear very willing 
to accede, though he clearly foresaw that, even in the 
event of his liberation, residence in Europe would be 
totally interdicted. Perpetual exile in such distant 
lands was hardly less distasteful than perpetual impris- 
onment in his own. He did not, however, altogether 
reject the idea, but replied that if fate led him to those 
regions, he would delight to devote himself to some 
great works, such as the construction of a canal to unite, 
the two oceans ; and he commissioned a Frenchman to 
make the necessary investigations and surveys, that he 
might be able to form some idea of the practicability of 
the scheme of uniting the two oceans by means of the 
great lakes of those countries. 

In 1844 Senor Castellan, minister plenipotentiary of 
the States of Central America, being in France on po- 
litical business, had an interview with the prince, during 
which he entered at great length upon the importance 
of joining the two oceans, urging him to visit the coun- 
try, and place himself at the head of the gigantic enter- 
prise. Though unsuccessful in his exertions, he found 
the prince, to his surprise, possessed of such an intimate 
knowledge of all points in connection with the project 
imder consideration, that he desired him to reduce to 
writinof the ideas which arose in his mind on the 
subject. In compliance with this request, the prince 
soon afterwards forwarded to him in America certain 
memoranda, in which he proved, by general considera- 
tions, and from inquiries already made by his friends, 
that the undertaking was easy, and would be profitable. 



236 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

promising immense results for tliat portion of America ; 
he pointed out^ in fact, a route almost identical with 
that lately followed by the Nicaragua Transit Company, 
as not only less expensive than any other, but possess- 
ing other advantages not to be found elsewhere, especial- 
ly at Panama. By dwelling on the project, the prince 
had at last come to like it so well that, fired with the 
glory such a work would reflect on his name, and little 
anticipating any opposition to his liberation from the 
French government, he informed the American States 
that should he be set at liberty, it was his intention to 
go to America, and place himself at the head of this 
undertaking. 

As soon as this communication was made known 
thi'oughout the country, a great number of the principal 
inhabitants petitioned their government to the effect 
that Napoleon Louis Bonaparte should be exclusively 
intrusted with the execution of the projected ship canal. 
Accordingly Seiior Castellan wrote the prince the fol- 
lowing letter : — 

'' Leon de Nicaragua, Dec. 6, 1845. 

'^ Prince : It is with the greatest pleasure I acknowl- 
edge the receipt of your highness's letter, dated the 12th 
of August, containing the expression of sentiments of 
friendship and esteem with which I feel highly honored. 
Annexed to it I found the development of your ideas 
relative to the canal of Nicaragua, viewed by.you in that 
light which is best calculated to promote the welfare of 
Central America. You, at the same time, acquaint me 
that you are far more disposed than when I first paid you 
a visit at Ham to come to this country, in order to ad- 
vance, by your presence and exertions, the execution of 
that great work, sufiicient of itself to satisfy the most 



LIFE OP NAPOLEO^^ III. 23T 

noble ambition, and that you are ready to accept tbe 
necessary powers for its execution, without any other 
view than that of performing a task worthy of the great 
name you possess. 

" When I went to France, some time ago, as minister 
plenipotentiary to his majesty the King of the French, I 
was anxious, before leaving Europe, to pay you a visit 
at Ham. I longed for the honor of seeing you, not 
only on account of the popularity which invested your 
name throughout the world, but also because I had my- 
self witnessed the high esteem in which your character 
was held in your own country, and the sympathy exhib- 
ited for your misfortunes. 

" It was also my wish, prince, to prevail on you to 
come to my country, fully convinced that you would 
find there an admirable opportunity for the display of 
your activity, and the exercise of your talents, which 
continued inaction might exhaust. I admired, prince, 
your resignation, and the love of your native land, stand- 
ing even the test of imprisonment ; but it was with great 
pleasure that I saw your mind exulted at the recital 
of the immense work to be executed in my country for 
the general advancement of civilization. 

"I am happy to see by your highness's letter, that 
you feel disposed to come to this country, where the 
documents you have forwarded to me have elicited sen- 
timents of the deepest gratitude and of the liveliest 
enthusiasm. 

" Now, I am happy to be enabled to acquaint your 
highness that the government of this state, fully con- 
vinced that the capital necessary to this undertaking 
could only be raised by placing at its head a name 
which, like yours, is independent both by fortune and 



238 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

standing, and thereby inspiring a general confidence in 
the two worlds, whilst it dispels from the easily alarmed 
spirit of our people every fear of foreign domination — 
this government, I say, relies npon the cooperation of 
your highness, as the only person combining in the 
highest degree these different qualities. Brought up in 
a republic, your highness has shown by your noble be- 
havior in Switzerland, in 1838, to what extent a free 
people may rely on your self-denial ; and we feel con- 
vinced that, if your uncle, the great Napoleon, has ren- 
dered himself immortal by his military glory, your 
highnesS^ may acquire, with us, an equal glory in works 
of peace, which cause only tears of gratitude to flow. 

" From the day on which your highness shall set 
foot on our soil, a new era of prosperity for the inhab- 
itants will commence. 

^^ The most influential persons of this capital, distin- 
guished both by their learning and their wealth, have 
presented to the government a memorial recommending 
that your highness be intrusted with the final settle- 
ment and terms of the pending negotiation, or of any 
other which might present itself — intended to promote 
the welfare of the State of Nicaragua. The govern- 
ment has not rejected the suggestion, but it appears 
that, at all events, it will feel disposed to send me to 
you with the necessary instructions, to enable your 
highness and myself to come to an understanding on 
the subject. 

^^ Another cause of the delay is the recent popular 
outbreak in the country ; but the number of malcontents 
being exceedingly small, and the government being sup- 
ported by public opinion, I think that this revolution 
will soon be appeased, and the government will be able 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 239 

to display all the elements upon whicli it relies to insure 
permanent peace, and to give this project the strong im- 
pulse it justly demands. The government is moreover 
convinced that the construction of the canal, by giving 
employment to all those hands which are now unoccu- 
pied, will contribute efficaciously to the tranquillity and 
good of the people, harassed, for a long time, by the 
horrors of civil war. 

"As much from a desire of bringing to a favorable 
issue this important matter, in which I am especially 
disposed to cooperate with all my ability, as from an ar- 
dent hope of seeing your highness ruling the destinies 
of our country, I long for the honor of paying you, 
were it but for a few hours, a visit at Ham, which I 
quitted last year full of grief at the prolongation of a 
captivity from which I earnestly prayed God to grant 
you a speedy release. 

" I beg that your highness will continue to honor me, 
with your correspondence, and that you will accept the 
expression of my respectful sentiments. 

"Franc. Castellan." 

A feV months after this communication, the prince 
received at Ham a letter from Senor del Montenegro, 
minister of foreign affairs, conferring on him, officially, 
all the powers necessary for the organization of a com- 
pany in Europe, and apprising him that the government 
of Nicaragua, by decision of the 8th of January, 1846, 
had determined to give that great work, which was to 
open a new route to the commerce of the world, the 
name of Canal Napoleone de Nicaragua. In conse- 
quence of that decision, Senor de Marcoleta, Charge 
d' Affaires of that country in Belgium and Holland, 



240 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

having received oiEcial instructions from his govern- 
ment, went to Ham for the purpose of signing a treaty 
with the prince, conferring upon him full power to carry 
into effect the object in view.* 

But during the time that had elapsed from the date 
of the prince's acceptance of the honorable proposal of 
the Nicaraguans and that of the above reply, circum- 
stances had occurred which gave his thoughts an entirely 
different direction, and finally led to his escape from the 
hands of the French government. 

About the middle of August, 1845, his father, Louis 
Bonaparte, Ex-King of Holland, now Count of St. Leu, 
determined on taking some steps in order to obtain his 
son's liberation. He had hitherto carefully avoided any 
attempt of the kind ; perhaps from a well-grounded ap- 
prehension of failure, but more probably from a desire 
on his part, that his son should expiate, by some years' 
imprisonment, what he considered the folly of his enter- 
prises. But when five years had elapsed without bring- 
ing any relief to the condition of the captive prince, 
the unhappy father, who saw himself every day grow- 
ing weaker by age and infirmities, felt more deeply than 
ever the void that was in his heart, and supposing that 
the atonement might by this time appear sufficient to 
the French government, decided on making an effort to 
hasten the hour of his son's deliverance. He sent to 
Paris a confidential agent, M. Poggioli, charging him to 
see M. Mole, ex-president of the council of ministers, 
M. de Gazes, grand referendary, and M. de Montalivet, 
secretary of the civil list. The letter addressed to the 
latter contained these words : " You are a father, and 

* " Prisoner of Ham," p. 197. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 241 

can therefore fully understand my feelings." These 
gentlemen enjoyed great influence, and their recommen- 
dation must have proved very efficacious ; but theu' only 
reply to the prayer of a lonely father, to see his son for 
the last time before his death, was an intimation to the 
agent, that they would mention the matter to the minis- 
ters as soon as an occasion would present itself. 

The principal ministers at that time were Marshal 
Soult, president of the council, M. Guizot, minister of 
foreign affairs, and M. Duchatel, minister of the interior. 

Weeks' slipped away, and M. Poggioli, continually 
put off, received no satisfactory reply. At last he in- 
formed the prince of the failure of his mission, at the 
same time saying that he had been spoken to vaguely 
on the subject of guarantees, without any precise form 
having been submitted. In consequence of this, Louis 
Napoleon addressed the following letter to M. Du- 
chatel : — 

" To the Minister of the Interior, 

" FoRTKESS OF Ham, Dec. 25, 1845. 

'^ Sir : My father, whose age and infirmities require 
the attention of a son, has asked the government to allow 
me to join him. 

'^ His application has not been attended with a favor- 
able result. 

*^ The government, I am told, requires a formal guar- 
antee from me. In such circumstances my determina- 
tion cannot be doubtful. I am ready to do every thing 
compatible with my honor, in order to offer to my father 
those consolations to which he has so many claims. 

" I now, therefore, declare to you, sir, that if the 
French government consent to allow me to go to Flor- 
al 



242 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

ence, to discharge a sacred duty, I promise, npon my 
honor, to return and to place myself at the disposal of 
the government, as soon as it shall express a desire that 
I shall do so. 

" Accept, sir, the expression of my high esteem. 

" Napoleon Louis Bonaparte." 

The only answer Poggioli could get from Duchatel, 
four days afterwards, was, that the affair was a grave one, 
and that he would submit it to the council of ministers. 
And on presenting himself at the house of the minis- 
ter to learn the decision, he was told that " the prince's 
request could not be acceded to, because it was contrary 
to law, and because it would be granting a full and 
free pardon, without the king having the merit of it." 
^^ Send this answer to the prince," added the minister. 

M. Poggioli having observed that, as the prince had 
written directly, it would seem proper to send him a di- 
rect and official answer, Duchatel had recourse to the 
commandant of the fortress, to acquaint the captive 
with the refusal of his request. " Be good enough," 
he wrote to the officer, ^^ to inform the prince from 
me, that I have laid his request before the council, and 
that the council has not thought it within its power 
to grant it. This provisional liberation would be a dis- 
guised pardon ; and whatever may be the rank of those 
who have been condemned, pardon can issue only from 
the clemency of the king." 

" The prince, wishing to take away every pretext of 
excuse, and from a regard to filial duty to make every 
sacrifice not incompatible with honor, resolved to address 
a letter directly to the king, and on the 14th of Janua- 
ry, 1846, wrote the following : — 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 243 

'' Sire : It is not without a lively emotion that I ap- 
proach yonr majesty, and ask, as a favor, permission to 
quit France, even for a very short time. For five years 
I have found in breathing the air of my native country 
ample com,pensation for the torments of captivity ; but 
my father is now aged and infirm, and calls for all my 
attention and care. He has applied to persons known 
for their attachment to your majesty, in order to obtain 
my liberation ; and it is my duty to do every thing 
which depends upon me to meet his desires. 

'' The council of ministers not having felt itself com- 
petent to accede to the request which I made to be al- 
lowed to go to Florence, pledging myself to return and 
again become a prisoner as soon as the government 
might desire me to do so, I approach your majesty with 
confidence to make an appeal to your feelings of human- 
ity, and to renew my request by submitting to your high 
and generous intervention. 

** Your majesty, I am convinced, will appreciate a 
step, which, beforehand, engages my gratitude ; and af- 
fected by the isolated position, in a foreign land, of a 
man who upon a throne gained the esteem of Europe, 
you will accede to the wishes of my father and myself 

" I beg your majesty to receive the expression of my 
profound respect. 

"Napoleon Louis Bonaparte." 

The Prince of Moscow* presented this letter ; Louis 
Philippe appeared satisfied, and, without breaking the 
seal, declared " that he thought the guarantee previous- 
ly ofiered by the prisoner of Ham sufficient." But a 

* The son of Marshal Ney. 



244 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

copy of the letter having been sent to the ministers by 
the commandant of the fort, they deliberated anew on 
the subject, and on the 25th of January, replied, " that 
in order to maintain the proper exercise of the king's 
clemency, it was necessary that this act of grace should 
be deserved and frankly avowed." 

Thus it sought to impose a humiliation on the prison- 
er. He asked permission to go and receive the embraces 
and blessing of his dying father ; they wished to compel 
him to ask pardon. 

Many influential deputies devoted to the reigning 
family, and the most distinguished members of the op- 
position, such as Odillon Barrot, Lamartine, Arago, 
Dupont (de I'Eure), and Thiers, on hearing of the refu- 
sal that the prince had experienced, loudly blamed the 
conduct of the ministers, and made several lively remon- 
strances. It would seem that the king himself was will- 
ing to liberate the prisoner, and thus rid himself of the 
embarrassment which his protracted captivity was un- 
questionably becoming ; but the ministers had set their 
heart on obtaining from Louis Napoleon a distinct re- 
nunciation on his part of all right to the throne of 
France, an acknowledgment of his past faults, and a 
written pledge never again to make war on the dynasty 
of Louis Philippe. 

Such was the real though very delicately implied sub- 
stance of a second letter to the king, which Odillon Barrot, 
in concert with Duchatel, drafted and sent to the prisoner 
for signature. Bat as might have been expected, he 
decidedly refused to sign such a letter. " I shall die 
in prison," he exclaimed when he had read it, ^^ if such 
unexampled severity condemns me to such a lot ; but 
nothing shall induce me to degrade my character. My 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 245 

father, moreover, who has always adopted for his motto, 
Fais ce que dots, avienne que pourra, (do thy duty, 
happen what may,) — my father, I am convinced, would 
regard my liberty as too dearly purchased at the expense 
of my dignity, and of the respect which I owe to my 
"name." And on the next day, the prince put into 
the hands of Poggioli the following reply to Odillon 
Barrot : — 

« Ham, Feb. 2, 1846. 

" Sir : Before replying to the letter which you have 
been good enough to address me, allow me to thank 
you, as well as your political friends, for the interest 
you have shown, and the spontaneous steps which you 
have thought it consistent with your duty to take, in 
order to lighten the weight of my misfortunes. Be 
assured that my gratitude will never be wanting to those 
generous men who, in such painful circumstances, have 
extended towards me a friendly hand. 

^^ I now proceed to state to you that I do not think it 
consistent with my duty to attach my name to the letter 
of which you have sent me a copy. The brave man 
who finds himself alone, face to face, with adversity, in 
the presence of enemies interested in depreciating his 
character, ought to avoid every kind of subterfuge, — 
every thing equivocal, — and take all his measures with 
the greatest degree of frankness and decision; like 
Caesar's wife, he must not even incur suspicion. If I 
signed the letter which you and many other deputies 
have recommended me to sign, I should, in fact, really 
ask for pardon without avowing it ; I should take shel- 
ter behind the request of my father, like the coward 
who hides behind a tree to escape the enemy's fire. I 
consider such a course unworthy of me. If I thought 
21* 



246 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

it consistent with my condition and honor merely and 
simply to invoke the royal clemency, I would write to 
the king, ' Sire, I ask pardon.' 

"' But such is not my intention. Tor six years I have 
endured without complaining an imprisonment which is 
one of the natural consequences of my attack agains't 
the government ; and I shall endure it for ten years 
longer, if necessary, without accusing either my destiny 
or the men who inflict it. I suffer, but I say to myself 
every day, ' I am in Prance ; I have preserved my honor 
unstained ;' I live without enjoyments, but also without 
remorse ; and every evening I go to repose in peace. 
No steps would have been taken by me to disturb the 
calm of my conscience and the repose of my life, had 
not my father signified an earnest desire of having me 
near him again, during his declining years. My filial 
duty roused me from a state of resignation, and I 
took a step of which I fully weighed all the gravity, 
and to which I attached all that frankness and honesty 
which I desire to exhibit in all my actions. I wrote to 
the head of the state — to him alone who had the legal 
right to alter my position ; I asked to be allowed to go 
and see my father — and spoke to him of honor, hu- 
manity, generosity, because I have no hesitation in call- 
ing things by their proper names. The king appeared 
satisfied, and said to the worthy son of Marshal Ney, 
who had the kindness to place my letter in his hands, 
that the guarantee which I offered was sufficient ; but he 
has as yet given no intimation of his decision. His 
ministers, on the contrary, founding their resolution on 
a copy of my letter to the king, which I had sent them 
from deference, and taking advantage of my position 
and their own, caused an answer to be transmitted to 



LIFE OP JfAPOLEON III. 247 

me, which was only adding insult to misfortune. Under 
the hlow of such a refusal, and still unacquainted with 
the king's decision, my duty is to abstain from taking 
any step, and, above all, not to subscribe a request for 
pardon under the disguise of filial duty. 
* " I still maintain all that I said in my letter to the 
king, because the sentiments which I there expressed 
were deeply felt, and were such as appeared suitable to 
my position ; but I shall not advance a line farther. 
The path of honor is narrow and slippery, and there is 
but a handbreadth between the firm ground and the 
abyss. 

" You may, moreover, be well assured, sir, that should 
I sign the letter in question, more exacting demands 
would be made. On the 25th of December I wrote 
rather a dry letter to the minister of the interior, re- 
questing permission to visit my father. The reply was 
politely worded. On the 14th of January I determined 
on a very serious step ; I wrote a letter to the king, in 
which I spared no expression which I thought con- 
ducive to the success of my request ; I was answered 
with an impertinence. 

" My position is clear ; I am a captive — but it is a 
consolation to me to breathe the air of my country. A 
sacred duty summons me to my father's side ; I say to 
the government, ^ An imperious circumstance compels me 
to entreat from you, as a favor, permission to leave 
France. If you grant my request you may depend on 
my gratitude, and it will be of the more value, as your 
decision will bear the stamp of generosity ; for the grati- 
tude of those who would consent to humiliate them- 
selves in order to jDbtain an advantage would be valueless.' 

'^ Finally, I calmly await the decision of the king — 



248 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

a man who like me has liyed througli thirty years of 
misfortunes. 

" I rely on the support and sympathy of generous 
and independent men like you. I commit myself to des- 
tiny, and prepare to resign myself to its decision. 
^' Accept, sir, &c., &c. 

" Napoleon Louis Bonaparte." 

This letter was unanimously approved of by the 
ftiends of the prince. Even Odillon Barrot could not 
help replying, " Though lamenting the determination 
which you have taken, I cannot blame the sentiment by 
which it is dictated. In such times as the present, ele- 
vation and nobility of soul I meet with too seldom not 
to be ready to honor them, even if carried a little 
too far." 

The refusal of the prince, however, did not put a 
stop to negotiations. Thirty deputies, chosen from the 
most distinguished men of the Chamber, attempted a 
last step, and asked an audience of the king. It was 
immediately granted. Odillon Barrot was the spokes- 
man ; but to his most eloquent representations the king 
replied that he did not require the prisoner to humble 
himself so far as to ask for pardon, but merely to ac- 
knowledge that it was to the royal power he owed the 
permission to visit his father. Louis Philippe, it is said,* 
then very energetically blamed the reply of Duchatel, 
which he called a "jailer^s answer," though the rest 
of the matter was again referred to this minister. 

For a short time after this conversation, Odillon Bar- 
rot still entertained some hopes ; but he was soon con- 
vinced any further step would be useless. At the very 

* " Prisoner of Haia," 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON 249 

moment when the prince^ almost certain of success^ was 
preparing a letter of thanks to the king, he had the pain 
of learning in the following note the total failure of the 
attempt. 

''Feb. 25, 1846. 

" Prince : Our renewed negotiations have proved a 
failure ; and if I have delayed to inform you of the fact^ 
it was because up to yesterday I still retained some 
hope. The government speaks of present circumstances 
— the state of Italy — that of Switzerland. * * * 
These circumstances would, nevertheless, have been 
overlooked, had a more explicit guarantee been given in 
your letter, because then they would have dispensed 
with the council of lAinisters. But politics not having 
been put out of the q^uestion, it was necessary to yield to 
the considerations of public order which prevailed in the 
council. So, for the present, considering the circum- 
stances, no liberation is to be looked for. 

" It is with great pain that I inform you of this re- 
sult ; I had begged Valmy to say to the king, that if 
we had completely diifered, since 1880, in political opin- 
ions^ I hoped that, at least, we agreed in sentiments of 
humanity and generosity. I now see that this is another 
of my Utopian ideas, which I shall be compelled to re- 
nounce. Accept, &c. 

*^Odillon Barrot." 

Every hope of having the door of his dungeon opened 
, by favor of the government, in order to visit his dying 
father, being thus cut off, the prince determined to have 
recourse to other steps for the recovery of his liberty. 



250 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Particulars of the Prince's Escape from the Fortress 

of Ham. 

Every project having thus failed, escape alone, with 
all its accompanying dangers, seemed to be the only re- 
maining hope. To make the attempt and not to succeed 
was certain not only to draw down upon the prisoner 
a more rigorous captivity, but also to heap that ridicule 
upon him which is the constant attendant of failure. 
The prince, who had supported his captivity with so 
much fortitude, who had fearlessly exposed himself to 
the bayonets of Strasburg and the balls of Boulogne, 
could not bear the idea of braving that unassailable ene- 
my, ridicule, whose attacks, especially in France, are 
always mortal. Still the desire of once more seeing his 
dying father determined him to make the bold and dan- 
gerous attempt. 

Escape then was decided upon ; the next thing to be 
done was to devise the plan. Until one was finally 
agreed upon, it was necessary to instil into the mind of 
the commandant the belief of an approaching amnesty, 
in order the more effectually to conceal the prisoner's 
projects from his observation. And it was not difficult 
to persuade him that, according to the secret information 
which the prince had received from his friends in Paris, 
the ministry appeared determined to proclaim a general 
amnesty towards the month of June, just before the 
elections, as had happened previously. 

After hesitating between several plans, the prince 
ended by adoping the simplest, which consisted, first. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 251 

in finding a pretext for introducing workmen into tlie 
prison ; then he was to dress himself as one of them, 
and nnder the disguise to make his escape. Here acci- 
dent wonderfully assisted him ; for, at the_ very time he 
was thinking on some pretext to persuade the command- 
ant of the necessity of some repairs, the latter came to 
inform him that, in compliance with the request which 
he had made to the ministry more than a year hefore, it 
had been decided to repair the staircases and corridors 
of the buildings occupied by the prince. Count Mon- 
tholon. Dr. Couneau and Charles Thelin. About a year 
before this Dr. Couneau's period of five years' imprison- 
ment having nearly expired, the government had remit- 
ted the remainder of his punishment ; but instead of 
availing himself of the opportunity to recover his freedom, 
the doctor had written to the minister for j)ermission to 
spend the rest of his life in the fortress, as the medical 
attendant of the prince. This generous devotion had 
been appreciated, and the permission granted. The 
doctor moreover was left perfectly free in his actions, 
and he and Thelin could go into the town whenever 
they liked. 

Although it might be inferred from the conduct of the 
prince during the five years of his captivity, that he enter- 
tained no idea of attempting to escape, and although the 
report of an approaching amnesty was designedly spread 
abroad and generally credited, still the restless mind of 
the commandant and his own interest sufficed to render 
him suspicious, and to induce him to adopt precautions 
which his subalterns regarded as useless, and even ridic- 
ulous. 

Nightfall invariably brought with it an increase of 
vigilance ; ten o'clock once struck, the commandant. 



252 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

wlio, as we have already said, iisually came to pass tlie 
evening with, tlie prince, never failed to make sure tliat 
the keepers were on duty at the bottom of the stairs. 
Then he retired, locking the outer door and carrying 
off the key. Of the three keepers charged with the im- 
mediate surveillance of the prisoner's person, two were 
always stationed at the bottom of the stairs. The prince 
had observed that on certain days of the week one of 
them was accustomed to go and bring the public journals, 
and was generally absent for a quarter of an hour, leaving 
the post at the bottom of the stairs in charge of his com- 
panion for this short space of time. This was to be the 
moment of escape, as it then became more easy to turn 
away the attention of a single keeper. Next came the 
sentinels ; but this consideration did not disturb the 
prince much. From the very commencement of his 
captivity all the precautions and fears had been directed 
against dangers from without. They were persuaded 
that the prince himself did not wish to escape ; but they 
were, at the same time, apprehensive lest a troop of his 
partisans might attempt to release him. 

The strictest orders were therefore given to prevent 
all persons whatsoever from approaching the fortress or 
stationing themselves under its walls. To go out was 
not interdicted ; but it was strictly forbidden to allow any 
person to come in. Accordingly the sentinels were for 
the most part placed on the top of the ramparts, and 
chiefly towards the outer side, in order to guard against 
any surprise. The fortress, however, being small, it 
was easy to command it at all points. It was only by 
means of a disguise, then, that one could hope to escape 
their observation. 

Here was the plan. Charles Thelin was to ask per- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 253 

mission to go to St. Quentin^ as lie had several times 
done before ; then he was to go and hire a carriage for 
the purpose. As he was leaving the prison to find the 
carriage, the prinpe, disguised as a workman, was to go 
out at the same time. This combination had two advan- 
tages ; it left Thelin at liberty to turn aside the attention 
of the keepers and soldiers from the pretended workman^ 
by playing with Ham, the prince's dog, which was well 
known, and a great favorite with the garrison ; and, 
moreover, it gave him the opportunity of creating a 
diversion by calling to himself those who, taking the 
prince for a workman, might be disposed to speak to 
him. 

The workmen had been already eight days engaged 
in making repairs within the prison, and these eight 
days had been carefully employed by the prince and his 
friends in studying their ways, and the extraordinary 
measures of precaution taken in their regard. 

The vigilance observed on their arrival at and depart- 
ure from the fortress, in a body, was very great. When 
they came to the first wicket they were obliged to defile, 
one by one, and to pass under the inspection of a ser- 
geant and a keeper especially appointed for the purpose. 
The same minute inspection was repeated at their going 
out in the evening, when, moreover, the commandant 
himself was always present. 

None of these particulars escaped the prince and his 
friends. They, besides, observed that whenever any of 
the workmen went to any retired part of the citadel, they 
were always strictly watched ; but when they went out 
of the fort for the purpose of fetching tools or materials 
of any description, as they followed the direct road 
across the principal yard, under the windows of the com- 
^2 



254 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

mandant, and in sight of the garrison, — and thus ex- 
posed themselves to view for a considerable distance, — 
they excited no distrust, and were allowed freely to pass 
through the wicket and over the drawbridge. The 
prince therefore determined to attempt his escape in the 
same way : the plan required audacity indeed, but it 
offered the greatest chances of success. Seven o'clock 
in the morning was the moment selected to put his plan 
into execution. He had chosen this precise time for 
several reasons. The commandant, all whose cares and 
anxieties were connected with the evening, hardly ever 
rose before eight : this also was the time at which they 
might expect to find only one keeper at the bottom of 
the stairs ; finally, by leaving the fortress so early, it 
would be easy to reach Valenciennes in good time for 
the four o'clock train to Belgium. The prince had 
made no mention of his project to General Montholon. 
He was anxious not to compromise him by useless con- 
fidences, and still he would have found it very difficult 
to withhold from him his design, had not the general 
happened to be unwell just at the time. 

Every thing, then, was to be ready by Saturday, the 
S3d of May, the day when, by the regular course and 
at the fixed hour, there was to be only one keeper at the 
foot of the stairs. But, by what at first appeared a very 
unfortunate accident, the prince was visited on that very 
day by some persons whom he had previously known in 
England, and whom he had expected to see sooner. 

It was necessary, then, to put off the attempt till 
Monday, the S5th ; the consequences of this delay might 
be serious : it was by no means certain that the work- 
men would return in sufficient numbers to cover the 
escape, and it was certain that two keepers would be at 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 255 

the foot of the stairs instead of one. Wishing, how- 
ever, to derive some advantage from the visit, the prince 
asked his friends to lend their courier's passport to his 
"calet de chamhre, who was about to take a journey. 
The request was readily complied with. Thelin was 
thus in regular travelling order. As to the prince him- 
self, by means of a friend in Paris, he had already pro- 
cured a passport, of which, however, he afterwards made 
no use. 

Sunday passed in the midst of great anxieties. The 
repairs being nearly finished, it was doubtful if there 
was work enough to be done on Monday to bring back 
many workmen. The provident Thelin, however, had 
asked them to be good enough to put up some shelves in 
a little recess, which was used for a cellar. 

The difficulty did not consist merely in passing through 
the guards and door-keepers — it was also necessary to 
avoid being met by the workmen themselves, who were 
to be found in all directions, and were constantly super- 
intended by the contractor of the works and an officer of 
the engineers. It is very easy to imagine what must 
have been the emotions of the prisoner at the approach 
of the decisive moment. Thinking on the past gave 
him little encouragement. Twice had he risked his life 
for a cause which he had thought it his duty to revive 
at the hazard of the greatest sacrifices ; twice had these 
unfortunate attempts proved unqualified failures, and 
ridicule, the unsparing foe of ill success, had almost in- 
gulfed him in her overwhelming torrents. If he failed 
to-morrow, should he not be universally and forever 
regarded as a madman ? The interest he had acquired 
by six years' sufferings, patiently endured, the considera- 
tion he had gained by his works^ the very sacred cause 



256 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

wliich called him to brave so many dangers — all would 
vanisli, all would be forgotten. With what a magnifi- 
cent theme he would furnish the wits of Europe in case 
he was discovered and brought back disguised in the 
humble garments of a workman ! With what inex- 
tinguishable laughter would his triumphant enemies 
hail the news of his third abortive attempt, so much of 
a piece with the other two ! But the die was cast ; sink 
or swim, the attempt should be made. Dr. Couneau 
had undertaken to play the part necessary to screen 
the prince's departure, and to give him time to elude 
pursuit. 

At last, on Monday, the 25th of May, 1846, early in 
the morning, the prince. Dr. Couneau, and Charles 
Thelin, standing behind the window curtains, which 
they kept carefully drawn, and with their shoes off to 
avoid making noise, watched the court yard, and impa- 
tiently awaited the arrival of the workmen. All was 
still silent in the interior of the fort ; the sentinels 
alone paced slowly up and down before their sentry- 
boxes. 

By a singular accident, the only soldier in the garri- 
son whom they wished to avoid was this very moment 
on duty before the prince's door. This man, who had 
long been the confidant of the commandant, was accus- 
tomed to exercise a very scrupulous surveillance over 
the workmen ; and the prince had already remarked 
him, when on duty, examining all their movements 
with the greatest attention, looking narrowly at their 
persons, and asking them where they were going. 

It is easy to perceive how dangerous such an accident 
might be. The prince was the more disconcerted at this 
Argus's presence as it was probable he might remain on 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 257 

duty till seven o'clock, and it was of the last importance 
to set out before that time, in order to avoid having a 
third keeper on their hands. 

Fortunately, however, by another accident as singular, 
the hours of mounting guard had been changed in con- 
sequence of a review on Sunday, and the alarming gren- 
adier was relieved at six o'clock. It had been arranged, 
that after having brought the workmen and artisans into 
the dining room to give them a morning dram, Thelin 
should precede the prince down stairs, in order to at- 
tract to himself the attention of the keepers. As to 
attempt to get the latter out of the way, it would be 
useless to think of it ; the very evening before, the com- 
mandant, on his visit to the prison, not having found the 
men exactly at their post, had given strict orders, on 
pain of immediate dismissal, that two of them, at least, 
should always be at the wicket, as long as there was a 
workman in the prison. The prince, once in the court 
yard, was to precede Thelin, who at the same time was to 
follow him closely, in order, as we have said, to turn 
away, as well as he could, any person who, taking the 
prince for a workman, might be disposed to address him. 

A little after five the drawbridge was lowered, and 
the workmen entered the fortress, and passed between 
two files of soldiers under arms. At first they were not 
so numerous as usual, and being Monday, they were 
better dressed than ordinary ; the weather too, being 
very fine, they had no sabots; and, worst of all, from 
their dress there appeared to be no joiners among them, 
though it was disguised as a joiner that the prince had 
determined to attempt his escape. Now they became 
apprehensive lest the too scrupulous fidelity of the cos- 
tume should betray the disguise. To bear a closer 
^2* 



258 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III, 

resemblance to the artisans that lie saw, the prince for a 
moment wished to give up the sahots, (wooden shoes,) 
but soon renounced the idea, for those which had been 
prepared for him, and into which he was to put his 
high-heeled boots, increased his height nearly four inches | 
and this alone made a most important change in his 
appearance. 

To conceive a plan and to put it into execution are very 
different things. The plan in question was simple ; but 
the principal difficulty in carrying it out lay in catching 
with resolution the favorable moment of going down 
the stairs and getting out of doors, while the workmen 
should be kept drinking, and the attention of the keep- 
ers diverted by the doctor and Thelin. It was necessary 
then that every thing should be in readiness beforehand, 
that the propitious opportunity might not be lost. The 
prince should be dressed and have his mustaches cut 
off. These prehminaries were indispensable ; they were 
urgent ; yet, on the other hand, should any thing occur 
to hinder his departure for that day, would not the very 
act of having cut off his " mustaches betray his scheme 
to the commandant, and so render his escape forever 
after impossible ? The doctor therefore entreated the 
prince to defer to the last moment an operation so 
trifling in itself, but in the present circumstances so 
alarmingly significant of a settled purpose not to be 
withdrawn. 

The prisoner could not help smiling at the consterna- 
tion that overspread his friends' countenances as they 
witnessed the razor performing this unusual operation. 

During the hour which was yet to pass before quit- 
ting the prison, how many accidents might happen, how 
many circumstances might occur^ which might oblige 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 259 

tliem to put off their departure till next day ! Now the 
real dangers liad commenced, and all those palpitating 
emotions which it is impossible to describe. 

All felt a fluttering of the heart, but it was from no 
cowardly presentiment. The prince was certain of being 
fired upon if discovered in the attempt to escape ; but it 
was not by fear of death he was moved. Determined, 
however, to sell his life as dearly as possible, he provided 
himself with a poignard. 

There was a talisman which the prince had always 
carried about him, but which he now thought of leaving 
in charge of his friend. It was a little portfolio con- 
taining two letters, — one from his mother, Hortense, the 
other from Napoleon, — the precious pledges of an 
abiding love and of the dearest recollections. When he 
thought that these papers might betray him in case of 
search on the frontier, he hesitated before placing them 
under his garments. But Dr. Couneau, seeing his diffi- 
culty, appeared to approve of this sacred superstition of 
the heart, and sentiment got the better of prudence. 
Prince Napoleon concealed carefully in his breast the 
only relics which he had at that time of the past gran- 
deur of his family. The emperor's letter was addressed 
to Queen Hortense ; it contained these prophetic words 
regarding his nephew : " I hope he will grow and render 
himself worthy of the destinies which await him." 

In the mean time the toilet operations were actively 
continued. Charles Thelin, from whose narrative the 
principal portion of the present chapter is taken, is here 
very circumstantial. The prince, he says, put on his 
usual dress, gray pantaloons and boots ; then he drew 
over his waistcoat a coarse linen shirt, cut off at the waist, 
a blue cotton handkerchief, and a blouse, not merely 



260 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

clean, but somewliat elegant in its cut ; then lie drew on 
a pair of large trousers of coarse blue linen, which had 
been worn and were very dirty. Tinder these he con- 
cealed the lower part of the first blouse, and finally put 
on, over all, a second blouse, as much worn and as dirty 
as the pantaloons. The rest of his costume consisted 
of an old blue linen apron, a wig, with long black hair, 
and a bad cap. Being thus apparelled, and his hands 
and face painted with red and black, the metamorphosis 
was complete. 

The moment for action being now at hand, all emotion 
ceased, and the prince breakfasted as usual. The repast 
over, — an afiair of a few minutes, — he put on his sabots, 
and took a common clay tobacco-pipe in his mouth. 
Having often remarked that many workmen, coming or 
going, carried long boards in or out, he loosened one 
of the long shelves of his library, hoisted it on his 
shoulder, and disposed himself to set out with this load, 
by means of which he hoped to be able to conceal his 
countenance, at least on one side. 

At a quarter before seven, Thelin called together all 
the workmen who were engaged on the stairs, and 
invited them all into the dining room, where Laplace, a 
prison officer, was commissioned to pour out the liquor 
for them to drink. It was a certain means to get rid 
of him likewise. In a moment Thelin came to announce 
to the prince that there was not an instant to be lost. 
He then immediately descended the stairs, at the bottom 
of which were posted the two keepers, Dupin and Issale, 
and where, besides, a workman was occupied in repair- 
ing a balustrade. Thelin exchanged a few words with 
the keepers, who bade him good morning, and seeing 
that he had his overcoat on his arm and was prepared to 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 261 

set out, they wished him a good journey. To secure the 
prince a passage, it was necessary to neutralize the yigi- 
lance of, at least, one of these two keepers. So, pretend- 
ing to have something to say to Issale, Thelin drew him 
aside from the wicket, and so placed himself that Issale, 
in order to hear, must have his back towards the prince. 
At the very moment when the prince quitted his 
chamber, some of the workmen were already coming out 
of the dining room, situated at the other end of the cor- 
ridor. The rencontre might have proved dangerous had 
not Dr. Couneau been there to engage them a few mo- 
ments by asking them some questions supplied by his 
ready wit.; and none of them observed the prince, who 
was slowly passing down the stairs. When he came 
within a few steps of the bottom he found himself face 
to face with Dupin, the keeper, who, however, had to 
draw back in order to avoid the plank, which, placed 
horizontally on the prisoner's shoulder, prevented his 
profile from being seen and undoubtedly recognized. 
The prince then passed through the wickets, going 
behind Issale, whom Thelin kept in close conversation. 
He then entered the court yard, where a workman, who 
came down the stairs immediately after him, followed 
him very closely, as if he wished to ask him some ques- 
tion. He was a locksmith's journeyman ; but Thelin 
immediately called him to himself, and easily succeeded 
in devising some pretext to send him back again up stairs. 



262 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

Continuation of Louis Napoleon's Escape from Ham. — Ar^ 
rival in London, and Letter to the French Ambassador. — 
Doctor Couneau. 

When we left the prince lie was in the midst of all 
the perils and difficulties of his attempt ; he had just 
quitted the buildings and was entering the court yard. 

On passing before the first sentinel, the pipe dropped 
from the prince's mouth, and fell at the soldier's feet ; 
he stopped to pick it up ; the soldier looked at him me- 
chanically and continued his monotonous pace. It was 
almost a miracle that he was not recognized. Every 
step he took he met persons perfectly familiar with his 
features, and deeply interested in discovering him. Near 
the canteen he passed very close to the officer of the 
guard, who was reading a letter. The officer of engi- 
neers and the contractor of the works were some paces 
farther off, busily engaged in examining papers. His 
road led him through a score of soldiers, who were bask- 
ing in the sun in front of the guard house. The 
drummer looked at the man with the plank with an 
insulting glance, but the sentinel did not appear to 
notice him. 

The gate-keeper was at the door of his lodge, but he 
only looked at Thelin, who still kept a few yards behind, 
and in order more effectually to draw attention on him- 
self, played boisterously with Ham, the prince's dog, 
which he led in a leash. The sergeant, who was standing 
by the side of the wicket, looked steadily at the prince ; 
but his examination was interrupted by a movement of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 263 

the plank, and its forv/ard end being directed right 
against the soldier who held the bolt, obliged him also 
to turn aside. The bolt was immediately drawn/ the 
prince went out, and the door closed behind him. Thelin 
then wished the gate-keeper good day, and passed out 
in his turn. 

Between the two drawbridges the prince saw two 
workmen coming straight towards him, on the side too 
on which his face was not concealed by the plank. They 
looked at him with great earnestness from the distance 
at which they still were, and in a loud voice expressed 
their surprise at not knowing him. Fearing lest their 
surprise might impel them to seek an unpleasant expla- 
nation, the prince, pretending to be tired of carrying the 
plank on his right shoulder, moved it to the left ; the 
men, however, appeared so curious that the prince 
thought for a moment he should not be able to escape 
them ; and when at last they were near, and appeared as 
if about to speak to him, he had the satisfaction of 
hearing one of them exclaim, " O, it is Berthoud ! " 

Through this inconceivable but fortunate mistake, 
success was now complete. The prince was free for- 
ever — at least he hoped so — from those walls in which 
he had been immured five years and nine months. 

He had no knowledge of the town of Ham ; but guid- 
ing his steps by a map of the neighborhood constructed 
by Dr. Couneau, he took, without hesitation, the road 
along the ramparts, which joins the high road to St. 
Quentin, whilst Thelin went into the town to get the 
carriage which he had engaged the evening before. 

The prince, filled with emotions which we may easily 
comprehend, though we need not attempt to describe 
them, advanced at a brisk pace, and in spite of the sabots. 



264 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

soon readied a distance of two miles from tlie town, near 
the cemetery of St. Sulpice. There he stopped for the 
carriage. A rough crucifix stood in the middle of the 
burying ground. The fugitive prostrated himself before 
the symbol of redemption, and offered up hearty thanks- 
givings to the Master of all things, who had led him, as 
it were, by the hand, through the midst of so many 
dangers. 

The sound of an approaching carriage was soon heard, 
and Thelin was seen hastening up. The prince was 
about ridding himself of his plank, when he perceived 
another carriage coming from St. Quentin. He there- 
fore resumed his walk, in order to give the <jarriage room 
to pass, and Thelin slacked his pace with the same 
intent. At length the prince threw his plank, which 
had been indeed a plank of deliverance, into a cornfield, 
jumped into the carriage, took off the sabots, threw them 
into a ditch, and, in order to commence his new char- 
acter, which was that of a coachman, he seized the reins 
and began to drive. The two travellers, at the same 
moment, saw two mounted gens d'armes of Ham coming 
out of the village of St. Sulpice ; the alarm, however, 
did not last long ,• the horsemen, before coming up with 
the carriage, turned off on the road to Peronne. 

The five leagues which separated Ham from St. Quen- 
tin were rapidly passed. At each change of horses, 
Thelin concealed his face as much as possible with his 
handkerchief; this, however, did not prevent him, as 
was afterwards said, from being recognized by several 
persons, and, among others, by the commissary of police, 
who was returning to Ham from St. Quentin. More- 
over, we are assured that an old woman expressed great 
astonishment at seeing the prince's valet accompanied by 
a man so badly dressed. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 265 

Approacliing St. Quentin, tlie prince took off the old 
trousers^ tlie dirty blouse, and the old cap, retaining the 
smaller blouse, and the wig, and put on a braided cap. 
He then alighted from the carriage, in order to turn 
round the town of St. Quentin on foot, and gain the 
Cambray road, where Thelin was to rejoin him with 
fresh horses. 

Thelin was well received at the post house, where he 
was an old acquaintance ; they pressed him to stay for 
breakfast, but in his anxiety to proceed he would accept 
of nothing but a generous slice of a cold pastry lying on 
the table, which, carefully wrapped up in paper, soon af- 
terwards furnished a capital repast for the prince, for 
which his long walk had provided an excellent appetite. 

In spite of his impatience, Thelin dared not hurry 
the post people too much, for fear of awakening suspi- 
cions. The prince, therefore, by this time on the Cam- 
bray road, not seeing the carriage come, began to grow 
uneasy. He feared it might have gone on whilst he 
was making his way around the town, and that he was 
now left behind. Seeing a gentleman approaching in a 
carriage from the direction of Cambray, he asked him 
if he had not met a post chaise. He was answered in 
the negative ; but his informant, as he afterwards learned, 
was no other than the king's procurator at St. Quentin, 
the very man who would have been charged with the 
prosecution, had he been apprehended in his flight. 

Sitting on the roadside, he was growing more con- 
cerned every minute, when, at last, the welcome sight 
of the little dog. Ham, announced the approach of the 
post chaise. Thelin, in a small carriage, harnessed to 
two excellent horses, soon made his appearance. The 
prince jumped in, and the postilion resumed his jour- 
^3 



266 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ney at a gallop. From this moment all danger of cap- 
ture seemed nearly impossible. sNotwithstanding the dis- 
tance walked, and the time lost in procuring and chang- 
ing carriages, it was not yet nine o'clock ; and even sup- 
posing ' — which was most improbable — that the prince's 
escape had been discoyered immediately after his leaving 
the fortress, the authorities must have lost time in mak- 
ing a reconnaissance, in closely examining the fortress, 
in writing despatches, and in sending off \hegens d^armes 
in all directions. Even when the event was known, it 
was to Amiens and Paris that the first despatches were 
sent. The travellers, however, wishing to make assur- 
ance doubly sure, tried to induce the postilion by every 
means in their power to push his horses to their speed. 
He became a little impatient at their eagerness, and an- 
swered them sharply, but, nevertheless, continued to 
make the pavement smoke beneath the horses' feet. 

No incident worthy of notice occurred till their arri- 
val at Valenciennes, which, thanks to the postilion's ex- 
ertions, they reached at a quarter past two. This was 
the only place where they were asked for their passport, 
Thelin presented that of the English courier, but the 
prince did not find it necessary to show his. 

The train for Brussels not leaving till four o'clock, 
the prince would have willingly taken post horses to gain 
the frontier of Belgium ; but this mode of travelling had 
become so rare since the opening of the railroad that 
such a step would be certain to lead to remarks. He 
decided then to wait at the depot for the starting of the 
next train. Though capture was now the next thing to 
an impossibility, Thelin was not quite at his ease on the 
subject of the gens d'armes. He had his eye constantly 
on the watch to guard against a surprise. Suddenly he 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 267 

hears himself called by name, and, turning round, he 
recognizes — whom ? A gen-d'arme from Ham in a cit- 
izen's dress ! Even the sight of this terrible apparition 
did not make the brave fellow lose countenance. He 
addressed him boldly, but was soon relieved. The gen- 
d'arme, after asking for the prince's health, told him 
that he himself had quitted the service a short time 
before, and was now employed on the Northern Rail- 
road, at the Valenciennes depot. 

Louis Napoleon soon reached Brussels — Ostend — 
England. 

On his arrival in London he wrote to Sir Robert 
Peel and Lord Aberdeen, to apprise them of his escape, 
and of his intention to place himself once more under 
the protection of their hospitable laws. Sir Robert 
barely acknowledged the receipt of his letter ; but Lord 
Aberdeen told him, in a very courteous reply, that 
" after the explanations given in his letter, his sojourn 
could be disagreeable neither to her majesty the queen, 
nor to her government." 

The prince then wrote to the Count St. Aulaire, then 
the French ambassador, announcing in the most formal 
manner his intention to undertake nothing against the 
Erench government. This letter was published in the 
daily journals of the time, and, as usual, we present it 
to our readers. 

" To ike Count St. Aulaire. 

." London, May 28, 1846. 
*^ Sir : I come frankly to declare to the man who was 
the friend of my mother, that, in quitting my prison, I 
have had no idea of renewing against the French govern- 
ment a war that has been so disastrous to me. My only 
wish has been to go and see my aged father. 



268 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

«' Before resolving on this extremity^ I had exhausted 
every means of solicitation to obtain permission to go 
to Florence, offering every guarantee compatible with 
my honor. All my entreaties being rejected, I did what 
the Duke of Nemours and the Dake of Guise did, in the 
reign of Henry TV., under similar circumstances. 

" I beg you, sir, to inform the French government of 
my peaceable intentions, and I hope that this spontane- 
ous assurance on my part will contribute to abridge the 
captivity of my friends, who are still in prison. 

" I have the honor, &c., 

" N. L. Bonaparte." 

Let us now return to Dr. Couneau, whom we left in 
the prince's chamber, concerting measures to conceal his 
departure, in order to give him time to effect his escape. 
He was anxious, if possible, to gain at least twenty -four 
hours. He placed a stuffed figure in the prince's bed, 
which, when covered up in the clothes, closely resem- 
bled the human form. He then closed the door leading 
from the bed chamber into the saloon, and kindled a 
strong fire, although, in fact, the weather was very 
warm, to countenance the supposition that the prince 
was ill. With the same intent he put the coffee pot on 
the fire, and told Laplace, the man of all work, that the 
prince was indisposed. About eight o'clock, a packet 
of violet plants arriving by the diligence, he told the 
keeper to put them in some pots filled with earth, and 
prevented him from entering the prince's saloon. About 
half past eight, Laplace came and asked where they 
would breakfast. "In my room," replied the doctoi. 
'' Shall I fetch the large table ? " asked Laplace. " That 
is unnecessary," was the reply ; " the general is ill, and 
will not breakfast with us." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 269 

At nine the commandant came to the saloon^ and 
asked for the prince. " He is not quite well/' said the 
doctor, " and does not wish to be seen. If you have 
nothing particular to say, pray do not disturb him." 
The commandant merely looked in at the door, and 
thinking he saw the prince in bed, went away without 
suspicion. The doctor had ordered medicine and an 
emetic for the patient. To lull suspicion somebody had 
to take the latter : he took it himself, and attempted to 
perform the consequent functions. Finding this impos- 
sible, he took some coffee and threw it into a basin of 
water with some crumbs of bread, and added nitric acid, 
which produced a very disagreeable odor : the man of 
all work was now fully persuaded that the prince was 
seriously unwell. 

At about half past twelve the doctor saw the com- 
mandant for the second time, as he was examining the 
works, and informed, him that the prince was somewhat 
easier. The commandant expressed his satisfaction, and 
offered to send his own servant, in consequence of The- 
lin's absence. Couneau declined, but about about one, 
told Laplace to come and make the prince's bed. While 
doing so, the man of all work heard the doctor talking 
in a small adjoining saloon, and naturally concluded that 
the prince was there lying on the sofa. 

About two the commandant came again, and found the 
prince's room door shut. Learning, however, from the 
doctor that the patient had just taken a bath, and was 
then enjoying a refreshing slumber, he retired again 
without disturbing him. He sent, however, for Laplace. 
" Well," he asked, " how goes the prince ? " " He is 
better," replied the man of all work. " What is he 
doing now ? " " He is asleep at present : a short time 
^3* 



270 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

ago he was talking in his saloon with the doctor," re- 
plied the simple Laplace. The commandant, supposing 
that the domestic had seen the prince, felt quite at ease 
until evening, when, again meeting him, he asked how 
the patient was. The man of all work replied he did 
not know. " When did you see him last ? " asked the 
commandant. " I have not seen him since six o'clock 
this morning," was the alarming reply. 

Filled with uneasiness he ran to the prince's saloon, 
and asked the doctor where he was. 

" The prince is much better," replied the doctor. 
^^His sickness need not prevent me from speaking to 
him — I must speak to him," exclaimed the command- 
ant, in a tone that rendered much further dissimulation 
out of the question. However, the doctor went into 
the chamber, and pretended to call the prince. The 
prince, naturally enough, made no reply, and the doctor, 
returning, made the commandant a sign that the patient 
was asleep. ^' Well," said he, ^' the prince will not be 
always asleep. I shall wait till he awakes ; " and sitting 
down, he commenced to talk with the doctor. 

During the conversation he observed that the time for 
the arrival of the diligence was passed, and expressed 
his wonder that Thelin was not returned. But for this 
the doctor had a simple explanation — Thelin had taken 
a carriage. The drums soon beat the evening call, and 
the commandant, starting up, entered the bed chamber, 
exclaiming, " The prince has moved in his bed ; he is 
waking up." 

The brave officer stretched his ear, hut lie could hear 
no breathing. 

'^ O, let him sleep on ! " said the doctor, doing his 
best to keep his countenance. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 271 

But the commandant approached the bed, and discov- 
ered the stuffed figure. 

His consternation was great, but he restrained his 
anger, 

*^Has the prince escaped ? " he asked, calmly. 

'' Yes." 

" When did he go ? " 

'^ At seven o'clock this morning." 

^' Who were the persons on guard ? " 

"I don't know." 

These were the only words exchanged between the 
doctor and the commandant on the occasion. 

The latter immediately took the promptest measures 
to set authority on the track of the fugitives. But, as 
may be readily supposed, they were altogether futile. It 
was too late. 

The commandant's wife fainted on hearing of the 
prisoner's escape. She knew that such an event seriously 
compromised her husband, and perhaps completely ru- 
ined his future prospects. Couneau was locked up, and 
never let out of sight. All those that could be suspected 
of having favored the escape, either . through connivance 
or through negligence, were also imprisoned. Three 
days afterwards, the commandant was summoned to 
Paris to give an account of his conduct, and to explain 
matters. On his return to Ham he was deposed from 
his command, and himself laid under arrest. 

It has been pretended that the prisoner's escape had 
been facilitated by government ; but such a supposition is 
absurd. A judicial inquiry was immediately ordered, 
and the public prosecutor was charged to institute a 
searching investigation, in order to discover, if possible, 
all those who had aided the prince in the accompHshment 
of his project. 



272 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

After two montlis' examination and preparation, the 
trial opened on the 10th of July, and lasted three days. 
The principal accused were Couneau and Thelin — the 
latter absent ; then, the Commandant Demarle, La- 
place, the man of all work, and Dupin and Issale, the 
keepers at the first wicket. The three latter were at 
once acquitted, as it Was easily proved that they had 
been at their post, and had not cooperated in the escape. 
The innocence of the commandant was equally evident, 
and loudly proclaimed, and the worthy man was honor- 
ably discharged. 

As to Dr. Couneau, interrogated by the president, he 
gave the whole history of his life. A word or two re- 
garding this devoted man. 

Born in Lombardy, in 1803, of French parents, he 
was for some time secretary to Louis, Ex-King of Hol- 
land, father of the prince. Having studied medicine at 
Florence, he received the diploma of doctor at E.ome^ 
in 1828. During the Italian insurrection of 1831, in 
which, as may be remembered, Louis Napoleon had 
been deeply implicated, a friend of Couneau's having 
received five bayonet thrusts, the doctor attended him 
professionally, and had to quit Italy in consequence ; 
punishment of the galleys being threatened on every 
physician who did not reveal all he knew of the con- 
spiracy. He had made the prince's acquaintance in 
Italy, and some time afterwards w^rote to him for letters 
of introduction. The reply was an invitation to Arenem- 
berg. There the Queen Hortense conceived such an 
esteem for him, that, anxious to leave him some memo- 
rial in her will, she begged him to remain with her son 
for the remainder of his life. Such a request he re- 
garded as an order, and it is unnecessary to say how 
scrupulous was his obedience. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 273 

However, he was condemned to prison for three 
months, and Thelin, for contempt of court, received sen- 
tence of six months' imprisonment, which, we need 
hardly say, he did not undergo. Thelin has been dis- 
tinguished by the prince by the title of friend, which he 
has so well deserved, and the disinterested Couneau, as 
we all know, is, at the present 'day, nothing less and 
nothinsj more than the devoted friend and faithful medi- 
cal attendant of his majesty. Napoleon III. 

Soon after the prince's escape. General Montholon 
obtained pardon from the royal clemency, and was re- 
stored to his family. He died a few years ago ; but his 
children continue to receive every mark of the imperial 
favor. Thus terminated the curious episode of the 
escape of Louis Napoleon. 

We know that it was to close the dying eyes of 
his aged father that he had decided on flight. This 
mournful consolation, however, he was not permitted to 
enjoy. Applying for passports to the representatives 
of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in London, he met a 
decided refusal. " Such a favor," said the diplomatic 
agent, " would imply a disregard to the French govern- 
ment." The Count of St. Leu then addressed himself 
directly to the Grand Duke Leopold, but received for 
reply the statement ^* that French influence did not per- 
mit him to tolerate, even for twenty-four hours, the 
sojourn of Louis Napoleon in Florence." This was a 
finishing blow to the dying father. He expired shortly 
after, on the 25th of July, 1846, unattended by his only 
surviving son, to whom he wished to give his last bless- 
ing. A moulder of Leghorn took a cast of his features, 
which he sent as a last and pious souvenir to the prince. 
The body was embalmed, and deposited in the Church 



274 LIFE OF IsAPOLEOX IH. 

of St. Catherine, at Leghorn, nntil permission would be 
obtained to transport it to Trance. It is at St. Leu^ by 
the side of bis father and of his eldest son, that the re- 
mains of Louis Bonaparte, Ex-Eang of Holland, in con- 
formitv with the wish expressed in his willj now repose. 
He would not hare his grave an exile. 



CHAPTEE XX 



Louis Xapoleon in England until February, 1848. — Shiori 
SIcetch of the first French Revolution. 

Lons Xapolzozs" was now free — once more breathing 
the air of that country which, whatever may be her 
other faults, has been truly described as 

" Still, as in olden time. 

Sheltering •within her dreadless arms 
Exiles of every clime." 

The exile lived in comparative obscurity in the neigh- 
borhood of London, working at his new work, " 3ie- 
langes Politiques.'' Li the following year, 18-iT, the 
remains of his father, in compliance with his will, were 
transferred from Italy to St. Leu, where they were buried 
on the 29th of September, as w^ mentioned in the last 
chapter^ All the surviving members of the old im- 
perial armies, officers and private soldiers, eagerly seized 
this opportunity to pay their last duties to the brother 
of their venerated emperor. The prince, of course, 
could not be present at this touching ceremony ; but he 
wrote the following letter to Captain Lecompte, who 
had commanded the guard of honor on the occasion : — 



LIFE OF XAPOLEOX III. 2T5 

"Lo>-DO>', October A:, 1847. 

" Sir : The testimonies offered to tlie memory of my 
father, on the 29th of September, have deeply affected 
me ; and I was above all things touched on hearing that 
a great number of the ancient warriors of the empii-e 
had assisted at this pious ceremony. 

'^ I come to-day to thank those glorious veterans of 
our armv, throusrh the medium of their worthy leader, 
for the tribute of homage they have bestowed upon an 
ancient companion in arms. 

" It is not the man whom chance and the fortunes of 
war made king for a brief period that you have honored 
with your regrets, but the old soldier of the republican 
armies of Italy and Egypt. A man who remained but 
a short time upon the throne, and who paid for a few 
years of glory by forty years of exile, and died isolated 
in a foreign land. The sympathy which has attended 
his obsequies is something more than an act of homage. 
It is a reparation for the past. 

*^ Permit me, therefore, to thank you for your attend- 
ance ; for thus to express to you my sentiments of grati- 
tude is somewhat to mitigate the bitter grief which I 
experience at not having had an opportunity of kneeling 
before the tomb of my family, and makes me forget, for 
a moment, that I am condemned, as it appears, to re- 
main forever removed fi'om the men whom I love the 
best, and from objects which ai-e most dear to me. 
^^Eeceive, &c. 

" Xapoleon Louis Bonapaete." 

Of the impression produced by Prince Louis Xapo- 
leon on the greatest minds in England, during his last 
residence in that country, a period of nearly two yearsj 



276 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

a most satisfactory opinion may be gleaned from tlie two 
following extracts. They are taken from letters written 
by the greatest men of the day. The first is from Wal- 
ter Savage Landor, a brilliant scholar, a profound, ori- 
ginal thinker, and a highly independent and honorable 
man. It was written to Lady Blessington some time 
after the election of the prince to the presidency of the 
republic. The Italics are our own. 

^^ January 9, 1849. 

" Possibly you may never have seen the two arti- 
cles which I enclose. I inserted in the Examiner 
another, deprecating the anxieties which a truly patri- 
otic, andf in my opinion, a singularly wise man, was 
about to encounter in accepting the presidency of France, 
Necessity will compel him to assume the im'perial power , 
to which the voice of the army and peopWs will call him, 

" You know (who know not only my writings, but my 
heart) how little I care for station. I may therefore 
tell you safely that I feel a great interest, a great anxiety, 
for the welfare of Louis Napoleon. I told him if he 
ever were again in a prison I would visit him there, but 
never, if he were upon a throne, would I come near 
him. He is the only man living who would adorn one ; 
but thrones are my aversion and abhorrence. France, 1 
fear, can exist in no other condition. Her public men 
are greatly more able than ours, but they have less in- 
tegrity. Every Frenchman is by nature an intriguer. 
It was not always so to the same extent ; but nature is 
modified, and even changed, by circumstances. Even 
garden statues take their form from clay. 

" God protect the virtuous Louis Napoleon, and pro- 
long in happiness the days of my dear, kind friend. 

Lady Blessington. 

*^ Walter Savage Landor. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 277 

" I wrote a sliort letter to the president, and not of 
congratulation. May he find many friends as disinter- 
ested and sincere." 

The Duke of Wellington possessed a keen insight to 
character. In a letter to the Count D'Orsav. dated 
April 9, 1849, written in his usual terse, blunt style, 
the following passage occurs : — 

" Je me rejouis de la pi'osjperite de la France, et du 
succes de M. le President de la rejpublique. Tout tend 
vers la permanence de la paioc de r Europe, qui est neces- 
saire pour le honheur de chacun. 

" Votre ami tres devoue, 

" Wellington." 

(" I rejoice at the prosperity of Erance, and the success 
of the President of the republic. Every thing tends 
towards the permanent tranquillity of Europe, which is 
necessary for the happiness of all.") 

Such testimonies as these, coming from such sources, 
give very slight countenance to the reports we so often 
hear, relating to the unprincely associations in which 
Louis ISTapoleon is charged by his unscrupulous enemies 
to have been concerned, and to the wild pranks in which 
he is said to have indulged. One fact is worth a thou- 
sand assertions. Could a gentleman of the exalted 
genius and high social position of Walter Savage Lan- 
dor have written such a letter as we have given, of one 
'whom he did not know by intimate acquaintance to be 
highly honorable and upright in his conduct ? 

Tlie prince was thus gaining the most enviable friend- 
ship and esteem, and perhaps expecting his exile was 
still to last many a long year, when the revolution of Eeb- 
24 



278 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ruary, 1848^ burst on the startled world. One of its 
first effects was his return to France. 

Though at the risk of telling our readers nothing but 
what they know already^ we must take a rapid sketch of 
the causes which led to this explosion. It may not be 
strictly considered to be within the compass of our work ; 
but it will at least enable us to follow subsequent events 
more consecutively. 

' We shall first take a rapid sketch of the principal 
events of the French revolution. 

This day sixty years ago the name Bonaparte was as 
little known to mankind as that of the humblest officer 
in the Russian army is now. But we must go farther 
back. Little more than eighty years ago, two years be- 
fore the independence of our republic was proclaimed, ' 
Louis XVL, a Bourbon prince, ascended the throne of 
France. An excellent man, a Christian worthy of the 
name, of a noble, generous disposition, he was truly 
desirous of the happiness of his people ; and had he 
lived in other times, after a long and happy reign, he 
would have tranquilly sunk to repose amid the tears and 
blessings of faithful subjects. But he was fated to be 
the innocent victim of ages of tyranny, misrule, and 
crime. His gentle disposition only hastened a convul- 
sion which perhaps even a more energetic and inflexible 
spirit could not have counteracted. The kingdom was 
in the most alarming condition, and as years rolled 
away matters only grew worse. An increasing inade- 
quacy of the revenue to meet the ordinary demands of * 
government, which all the exertions of the most emi- 
nent statesmen successively failed in remedying, (the 
inevitable consequence of the reckless and profligate ex- 
penditure of the preceding monarchs ;) the unblushing 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. , 279 

corruption of tlie aristocracy, and of mucli of the mid- 
dle classes, brouo-ht about bv the general diffusion of tlie 
heartless and godless works of such men as Yoltaire, 
Rousseau, and the encyclopaedists ; the sight of the Great 
Republic, where man had, as it were, resumed his origi- 
nal dignity, on the other side of the Atlantic, which 
French arms had materially assisted in establishing ; 
and, under all, and infinitely more portentous than all 
other considerations combined, the deep-seated, burning 
discontent of a noble people, reeling under centuries of 
aggravated wrongs, and stung to madness by the every- 
day scenes of peasants dying of starvation, that effemi- 
nate nobles might revel in luxury, — these complicated 
causes for an approaching explosion presented unfortu- 
nate Louis with a problem for solution too difficult, per- 
haps, for the greatest genius that ever appeared on this 
earth. It had to be done, however, and he undertook 
it in good faith. "When ministers had hopelessly failed, 
he had recourse to the last remaining step, a convocation 
of the States General, to provide for the difficulties of 
the country. This assembly, composed of the sovereign, 
the nobles and clergy, and the Tie7^s Etat, (the third 
estate, consisting of the representatives of bourgeoisie, 
the middle and lower classes of the nation,) opened with 
great splendor on May 5, 1789. 

The Tiers Etat, confident of public support, and 
able and energetic in its measures, led on by the famous 
Mirabeau, soon induced the king to order the nobility 
and clergy to sit in the lower house, and there vote like 
the other representatives of the people. This union of 
orders in one assembly, at first called the National, but 
soon changed to the Constituent Assembly, was the sig- 
nal for the destruction of a legislative nobility. The 



280 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

new body declared itself permanent, and in fact, if not 
in name, took all the power into its own hands. It 
passed many unnecessary and nnjustifiable decrees, but 
feudal rights were abolished, distinctions of rank an- 
nulled, and all Frenchmen were declared free citizens, 
with equal privileges before the eyes of the law: A 
constitution, founded on justice and prudence, the king 
promised to sustain. 

But the state of men's minds, so highly excited as to 
effect such violent changes within such a short time, led 
the people into many excesses. The Bastile was de- 
stroyed; a savage multitude proceeded from Paris to 
Versailles, and forced the king and royal family to re- 
turn to the Tuileries, whence, in an agony of terror at 
the brutal deeds every day perpetrated around them, the 
august captives made an ineffectual attempt to escape. 
The great words " Liberty " and the " Eights of Man " 
seemed to have effaced from men's hearts every sugges- 
tion of religion, duty, and humanity, though in an ex- 
treme spirit of disinterestedness, afterwards repented of 
as the wildest folly, the Constituent Assembly, before 
separating, by a solemn decree pronounced themselves 
incapable of being reelected. 

The consequences of this rash act were immediate. 
The Constituent Assembly, taken all in all, and viewed 
under every aspect, was an extremely able body, and 
perhaps sufficiently prudent to have guided France 
through a comparatively bloodless revolution. It had 
been composed of the experience, the responsibility, the 
common sense of the country, and of whatever religion 
was still left among the middle and upper classes. 
But their labors were now lost to France in this dark 
hour of danger. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 281 

The new body, called the Legislative Assembly, con- 
sisted almost exclusively of young men of great talent, 
but little fortune, many perhaps sincerely desirous of 
constitutional liberty, but most entertaining extravagant 
ideas regarding its nature ; all restless, ambitious, dem- 
agogical, utterly irreligious, and well inclined towards a 
republic, as offering a more favorable theatre to their 
future career. Austria and Prussia, alarmed at the 
spread of democratic ideas, and instigated by the reports 
of the emigrants who were now flying the country in 
great numbers, declared war against France. The Legis- 
lative Assembly, nothing daunted, boldly bade them 
defiance, and prepared for battle. 

Still, even this energetic government was considered 
to be deficient in zeal. The leaders of the Jacobin Club, 
a secret organization extending all over France, had 
been for some time the real authorities in the country, 
and now formed an Insurrectionary Committee to over- 
throw the existing government. They were but too 
successful. The consequences of the sanguinary insur- 
rection of the 10th of August, 1793, were, a decree 
suspending the functions of the king, another consign- 
ing him to prison, and another abolishing monarchy, 
proclaiming a republic, and replacing the Legislative 
Assembly by the National Convention. Then, indeed, 
it seemed as if Pandemonium had broken loose. With- 
in four days, in September, fifteen thousand prisoners 
were murdered in cold blood by the fiendlike populace 
of Paris. The king and queen were put to death ; the 
Christian religion was abolished, and replaced by the 
worship of reason ; the existence of a Supreme Being 
was denied ; and dates were henceforward to be reckoned, 
not from the Christian era, but from the era of the 
24* 



282 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

foundation of tlie Frencli republic — the 22d of Sep- 
tember, 1792. The reign of terror commenced ; the 
revolutionary tribunal was established ; the wildest ex- 
cesses of barbarity, accompanied by every species of 
horror, became of daily occurrence. France surged in 
blood ; and it is now hardly a matter of surprise that 
nearly all the other nations of Europe, astounded at 
these atrocities, formed a coalition, offensive and defen- 
sive, against the growth of such monstrous republicanism. 
External force, however, did little towards settling mat- 
ters. At each new accession of danger to the ^^ repub- 
lic," the frantic energy of her leaders rose in proportion : 
they put fresh resources into rec[uisition, and gained 
many triumphs over her numerous enemies. 

But the Convention soon split into two factions. The 
more moderate party, the Girondists, talented and sincere, 
but insane, of course had to yield to their relentless op- 
ponents — Danton and E-obespierre ; and twenty-one 
of them expiated on the scaffold their criminal weakness 
in consenting to Louis's condemnation. Within six 
months the Convention again split. The Eobespierre 
and Danton factions became mortal foes. Audacious 
Danton perished, and wily Eobespierre again triumphed. 
But Erance was now glutted with blood. Whilst Eobes- 
pierre lived no head was safe. 

A conspiracy of the Thermidorians destroyed the 
usurper. The reaction had commenced. The Jacobin 
clubs were abolished. The radical party resisted and 
conspired, but was defeated and disarmed. 

It was by the active assistance afforded by the Sections, 
or middle classes of Paris, that the government had been 
so far triumphant. But the reaction now appearing to 
run to an extreme, the Convention, to give stability to 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 283 

the republic, thought proper to frame a new constitution. 
The new government was to consist of two Chambers 
and an executive Directory. The lower chamber was to 
be called the Council of Five Hundred, renewable every 
third year ; the upper the Council of Ancients, consisting 
of two hundred and fifty members, at least forty years of 
age, also renewable every third year ; and the Directory 
was to consist of five members, renewable every year by 
a fifth. With greater wisdom than had been displayed 
by the Constituent Assembly, the Convention boldly re- 
solved that the new legislative body should, in the frac- 
tion of two thirds, be composed of the members of the 
existing convention, and that only one third should be 
newly chosen. The constitution, with this resolution 
attached, was presented to the French people for ratifi- 
cation, and was almost unanimously adopted. 

This universal acceptation, especially of the resolu- 
tion, was particularly displeasing to the sections. They 
were jealous of the Convention, and accused it of undue 
partiality towards the Terrorists. The royalists, seeing 
the probability of some permanence in the republic in 
case of the establishment of the new constitution, took 
every means to foment the grudge. Matters came to 
such a pass that a conspiracy was determined on to over- 
throw the Convention. On the loth Vendemiaire, (Oc- 
tober 5,) 1795, the sections, twenty-seven thousand 
strong, arrayed in military order, and provided with 
artillery, marched towards the Tuileries, where the 
government was sitting. The Convention had only 
eight thousand men to oppose them ; but they had, the 
previous evening, placed this force under the command 
of a young officer, of whose military ability they had 



284 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

received a very assuring report. He justified their con- 
fidence. He took every precaution to defend the gov- 
ernment, and then rushed on the sections with a fury 
for which they were totally unprepared ; charged them 
with cannon loaded with grape before they could recover 
from their confusion ; shot down Parisians as mercilessly 
as if they were Austrians ; in a word, the Convention 
again was in the ascendant, and the name Bonaparte, 
since so common, then for the first time passed from 
mouth to mouth, coupled with expressions of terror and 
admiration. 

On the 27th of October, 1795, the new legislative 
bodies met and chose five directors, who immediately 
established themselves in the palace Luxembourg. One 
of their first acts was to nominate Bonaparte general in 
chief of the army in Italy. Hitherto the armies of the 
republic had met with various successes. The soldiers 
certainly were very brave, but, as might be expected, 
preferred talking politics to fighting, and were more 
ready to depose an energetic commander than to obey 
him. They, moreover, often sufiered severely from a 
want of the most indispensable requisites of war. But 
no sooner did Bonaparte come amongst them, than, to 
use the words of Carlyle, '' the uncertain heap of shriek- 
ing mutineers became a phalanxed mass of fighters ; and 
wheeled and whirled to order swiftly, like the wind or 
whirlwind; tanned mustachio figures, often barefoot, 
even barebacked, with sinews of iron, who require only 
bread and gunpowder ; very sons of fire, the adroitest, 
hastiest, hottest, ever seen, perhaps, since Attila's time." 

Then commenced those wonderful campaigns of 1796— 
7, beginning with the victory of Montenotte, and ending 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 285 

witli the establishment of the Italian republics, and the 
glorious treaty of Campo Formio. In 1798 we hear of 
the youthful general, impatient of idleness and eager to 
strike England a mortal blow through her Eastern pos- 
sessions, landing in Egypt, conquering the j6.ery Mam- 
elukes, and firmly establishing himself in the country, 
though Nelson annihilated the French fleet at the mouth 
^ of the Nile ; and the second European coalition, taking 
advantage of the great captain's absence, inflicted great 
disasters on the French arms elsewhere, and won back 
all his conquests in Italy. In October, 1799, he returned 
to Paris, where his arrival was hailed with the most un- 
feigned exultation. 

Before this time people had become tired of the 
Directory. The endless internal quarrels of that body, 
the unscrupulous measures taken to maintain itself in 
authority, and, above all, its weakness and utter inability 
to preserve order at home, or defend the republic abroad, 
had rendered it an object of universal and undisguised 
contempt. All felt the necessity for a change, and all 
eyes were turned on Bonaparte as the man to efiect it. 
Accordingly, by a well-conceived coup diktat, executed 
on the 19th Brumaire, (November 9,) the Council of 
Five Hundred were expelled from their seats, the Direc- 
tory was abolished, and a provisional government created, 
consisting of three members, Bonaparte, the Abbe Sieyes, 
and Roger Ducos, invested with power to frame a new 
constitution. 

This was soon forthcoming. On the 13th of next 
month it was proposed to the people for acceptance, and 
every where received with delight and confidence. This, 
the famous Constitution of the Year VIIL, had some pe- 



286 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

culiar features worthy of notice. The new government 
was to consist of an executive and three chambers, a sen- 
ate, a legislative body, and a tribunate. The executive 
was ajirst consul, who wielded the entire government and 
the direction of war and diplomacy in his own hands, 
assisted by two other consuls, all chosen for ten years,* 
and indefinitely reeligible. The senate, consisting of 
eighty members, had the power of nominating out of the 
proper lists the members of the other bodies ; even the 
heads of the executive could annul laws or acts of the 
government savoring of unconstitutionality, but it had 
no share in the digestion of laws, nor could its members 
exercise any active functions. The legislative body, 
three hundred in number, was to hear in silence, pro and 
con, three counsellors of state and three tribunes, and 
then vote, without debate, upon the propositions. The 
tribunate alone had the right of discussing laws publicly ; 
but it was to vote upon them only to decide what opinion 
it should uphold before the legislative body. Its vote, 
even when in the negative, had not the effect of prevent- 
ing the enactment of a law, if the legislative body 
sanctioned it. 

Such was the shadow of a " Constitution " which 
France, after all her bloody struggles, was now only too 
happy to receive. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 287 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Consulate. — The Empire. — Its Fall. — The Restoration, 
— The Chambers. — TJie Royal Family. • — Accession of 
Charles X. -^ His unwise and despotic Administration. — 
The Ordinances. — Revolution of July. — Accession of 
Louis Philippe, and why his Subjects were discontented. 

With the dissolution of the Council of Five Hundred 
the days of the revolution expired. France was now 
under a master. Liberty may be said to have come to 
an end ; and yet the solid advantages conferred on the 
country by the new government, not to speak of the 
dazzling triumphs it enabled her to gain over her ene- 
mies, almost reconciled her to the loss of that precious 
boon for which she had been struggling for the last seven 
years so frantically, yet so blindly, and so far with such 
ill success. The victory of Marengo, due altogether to 
the wonderful forethought and energetic preparations of 
the first consul, the crowning result of a campaign of 
thirty days, put France in a condition to dictate peace to 
Europe, and enabled her chief to set about remedying 
the many evils under which she had been so long groan- 
ing. The exiles were recalled, the Catholic religion 
was restored, the energies of the country were completely 
revived in every department. Partly moved by gratitude 
and admiration, partly by horror at the frequent attempts 
made to assassinate Bonaparte, France soon made him 
consul for life, and, in 1804, by a decree of the senate, 
abolished the republic, changed it into an empire, de- 
clared Napoleon Bonaparte emperor, with the title of 
Napoleon I., and made the empire hereditary in his 
family. In all this the people concurred by a vote of 



288 LIFE OF NAPOLEON lIL 

three millions and a half against twenty-five hundred. 
By this change the whole real powers of government 
were vested in the senate and the council of the state ; 
in other words^ in the emperor. The legislative body 
continued its mute, inglorious functions. The tribunate, 
divided into several sections, and obliged to discuss in 
three separate divisions the projects transmitted to it by 
the legislative body, lost the little consideration that still 
belonged to it, and paved the way for its total suppres- 
sion, which ensued soon after. The Italian republics, 
following the example, soon decreed themselves a king- 
dom, and ciiose the French emperor as their king. Such 
an alarming increase of power naturally induced Austria 
to join the third coalition now formed against the em- 
peror ', but one of her armies very soon had to capitulate 
at Ulm, and the other, though assisted by the presence 
of the E-ussian emperor at the head of his best troops, 
"was almost annihilated at Austerlitz. Peace was imme- 
diately made between France and Austria, the German 
empire was dissolved, and the confederation of the Rhine 
proclaimed. Prussia, mad enough to provoke, single 
handed, the undivided wrath of the conqueror, almost 
instantaneously received two blovv^s, at Jena and Auer- 
stadt, from which it took her seven years to recover. 

Still, assisted by the Russians, the King of Prussia 
would not come to terras until the great defeat, in the 
following year, at Friedland, induced Alexander to sign 
the treaty of Tilsit, which rendered France all powerful 
on the continent. This was the culmination of Napo- 
leon's glory. Himself was emperor, and his brothers 
were kings : Joseph, of Naples, Louis, of Holland, and 
Jerome, of Westphalia. Austria and Prussia were pow- 
erless, and E-ussia was his sincere and puissant ally. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 289 

England, to be sure, still bade bim obstinate defiance. 
But thougb her insular position enabled her to defend 
herself with little difficulty, and though her fleets, 
sweeping every sea, gorged her ports with the plunder 
of almost every nation, — under the pretence that the 
friend of France must be the enemy of England, — still 
her hostility was excluded from the continent, and gave 
him very little uneasiness. 

The natural consequences of this wonderful success 
soon followed. The emperor fancied himself irresistible, 
and his overriding ambition shot far ahead of his fortune. 
It now led him into two most unjustifiable acts — the 
undoubted cause of his downfall. The Bourbon mon- 
archs of Spain having incurred his displeasure, he de- 
posed them, and immediately filled that country with 
soldiers, with the intention of placing his brother on the 
vacant throne. Because the pope refused to declare war 
against the English at his orders, he imprisoned the 
holy father, and annexed the States of the Church to the 
Erench empire. 

The invasion of Spain roused against him the fiercest 
foe he had yet encountered — a proud, brave, and fanatical 
peasantrj^, resolved to encounter to death this audacious 
attempt to make them submit to a foreign yoke. It gave 
England the foothold on the continent so long desired, 
and never afterwards lost. It kindled another sanguinary 
war with Austria. This terminated, indeed, in the 
triumph of the emperor on the field of Wagram ; but it 
led to results ultimately more disastrous than the defeat 
which he there so nearly experienced. The haughty 
conqueror, elated with success, divorced the wife he 
loved, and took an Austrian princess to his throne. 
This step not only thenceforward alienated all sincere 
25 



290 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

republicans from his cause, but also gave sucb a mortal 
offence to the Emperor of Russia, by the slight which it 
flung on his sister, that it was the real cause of the war 
of 1812. Of his imprisonment of the saintly Pius VII. 
it is not too much to say, that if it did not bring an 
actual curse on his arms, it certainly seemed to do so. 
He never afterwards won an advantageous victory, and 
the issue of the gigantic expedition of 1812 defied all 
mortal calculation. The results are well known. Prus- 
sia sprang to arms ; Austria joined the coalition ; Eng- 
land invaded the south of France, whilst the combined 
power of the continent penetrated the north and east. 
Pesistance was vain. Paris capitulated, the emperor 
was banished to Elba, and the brother of Louis XVI. 
was restored to the throne of his ancestors under the 
name of Louis XVIII., the young dauphin, the son of 
Louis XVL, having been considered the immediate suc- 
cessor of that unfortunate monarch. 

A new constitution was immediately promulgated and 
accepted. This was the famous Charter. Of this it , 
will be necessary to take some notice. By its provisions, 
liberty of conscience and worship, the freedom of the 
press, equality in the eye of the law, the right of being 
taxed only by the national representatives, and trial by 
jury, were established. The Senate had so disgusted 
the people by its adulations during the empire, and its 
tergiversations during the late reverses, that its existence 
could be no longer maintained, and the Chamber of 
Peers was substituted in its place. This, however, still 
consisted of members nominated by the king, and en- 
joying their seats during life ; and though the powers of 
the legislative body, henceforth called the Chamber of 
Deputies, were considerably enlarged by the charter, no 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 291 

person could be elected a deputy unless lie paid a direct 
tax annually of two hundred dollars to the government, 
and the right of voting was limited to persons paying six- 
ty dollars of direct taxes yearly. This restriction threw 
the nomination entirely into the hands of the more opu- 
lent class of society, and confined it to less than eighty 
thousand persons out of thirty millions. 

Still the charter contained many elements of freedom. 
All public burdens were to be borne equally by all 
classes in proportion to their fortune ; all were declared 
equally admissible to all civil and military employment, 
and the conscription was abolished. Laws in general 
might be introduced, by the authority of the king, either 
in the Chamber of Peers or in that of Deputies ; but the 
consent of both was essential to their validity, and those 
relating to taxes could only be proposed, in the first in- 
stance, in the lower house. The king alone was intrust- 
ed with the power of sanctioning and promulgating the 
laws. The Code Napoleon was continued as the ordina- 
ry law of France ; the ancient nobility resumed their 
titles ;'the new nobility preserved theirs ; the king was 
declared the sole fountain of honors in future ; the Le- 
gion of Honor was kept up ; the deputies were elected 
for five years ; but every year a fifth retired,' and reelec- 
tions to that extent' took place.*" 

The natural aversion entertained by a people lately 
as proud and triumphant as the French, for a dynasty 
forced upon them by foreign bayonets, brought back 
Napoleon, but had to be suppressed after the disaster 
of Waterloo. The revolution of the " Hundred Days " 
being ended, Louis XVIII. returned, only slightly 

** Alison's Europe, cap. Ixxvii. 



292 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

modified tlie charter, and, by his tact, moderation, and 
good sense, passably succeeded in the very difficult task 
of governing France, boiling as that country then was 
with the angry passions of royalists, liberals, Napoleon- 
ists, and republicans. 

Louis had no children to inherit the throne. His 
brother, the Count of Artois, was the heir apparent. 
The sons of the latter, the Duke de Berry, a prince of 
great and well-merited popularity, and the Duke d'An- 
gouleme, were the remaining chief male members of 
the elder branch of the Bourbons. Of the younger or 
Orleans branch, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, after- 
wards king, (son of Philip, surnamed Egalite, from his 
pretended devotion to democracy,) was the chief, and it 
was well known that he aspired to the throne. The 
Duke de Berry was poniarded as he was leaving the 
opera on the night of the 13th February, 1820, by an 
assassin named Louvel, a saddler, who had sworn to 
exterminate the Bourbons. The consternation of the 
royalists at this blow to their hopes of Bourbonic stabili- 
ty was extreme ; but it was changed into the most exu- 
berant exultation on the 29th of the following Septem- 
ber, when the widowed duchess gave birth to the Duke 
of Bourdeaux. In their fervent delight they surnamed 
the child the " Gift of God " and the " Child of Eu- 
rope," confidently regarding him as a certain guarantee 
against future revolutions. 

Doubts thrown on the legitimacy of the child could 
be traced to the Orleans party ; but it is hard to believe 
that the murder of the father was the v/ork of a con- 
spiracy entered into to supplant the elder by the younger 
branch of the Bourbons. The assertion was often made, 
but nothing was ever brought forward to establish it, or 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 293 

justify it. It is certain, however, that Louis Philippe, 
though always most careful to avoid committing him- 
self, and publicly professing the greatest friendship for 
the government, neglected no means to depreciate it, 
honored the chief members of the opposition with his 
especial regard, sneered at hereditary right, was occa- 
sionally eloquent on the *^ liberties of the people," and 
affected exhaustless admiration for the ^'^ glories of the 
empire." 

Louis XYIII. died in 1824, and was succeeded by 
the Count d'Artois, under the name of Charles X. 
The new monarch by no means possessed the concili- 
ating powers of his brother, and was certainly inclined 
to be despotic. Nevertheless, on his accession, Louis 
Philippe made the most unqualified professions of enthu- 
siastic attachment to every member of the royal family. 
This was particularly displayed at Rheims, where Charles, - 
in imitation of the old kings of France, had himself 
crowned with great pomp and ceremony. The Duke 
of Orleans shed tears of joy, and swore everlasting fideli- 
ty in a loud voice. " It was quite worth while," says 
an historian, '' to see Louis Philippe, at the royal ban- 
quet, putting his hand to his heart at every toast to the 
king, madame, and the Duke d'Angouleme. He him- 
self would at dinner often shout, ' Vive le Roi ! ' as if 
moved by a powerful feeling which could not wait for 
the moment of etiquette." * 

Charles X. sought to rule the country more after the 
manner of the seventeenth century than of the nine- 
teenth. He thought himself on solid land, whilst the 
surface of society was still unsettled and heaving after 

*-Poore's Rise and Fall of Louis Philippe. 

26* 



294 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tlie late tremendous eruption. He had.tlie utmost hor- 
ror for " liberal ideas," which, indeed, considering his 
birth and life, is not surprising. But what was worse, 
he had not the art of judicious compliance, of granting 
little to preserve much, and, most indiscreetly misinter- 
preting the lesson taught by the yielding disposition of 
the unfortunate Louis XVI., he prided himself on his 
inflexibility. 

On the other hand, it must be confessed, France is 
hard to govern, and revolutions are accomplished there 
with wonderful facility. Perhaps the best theory to ac- 
count for their frec[uent occurrence is to attribute them 
to the omnipotent authority wielded by Paris over the 
provinces, and the excitable temperament of the Parisian 
populace. The advantages of centralized power may be 
great, but its evils are much greater. If Paris could be 
cut up into pieces this moment, and fairly distributed 
through the length and breadth of the land, there might 
be some hope of permanent tranquillity of government, 
independent of the political cunning of one ruler, the 
prudent management of another, or the stern, relentless 
ability of a third. 

Sufficient cause, however, was hardly wanting for the 
revolution of 1830. In the first place, France could 
never forget that the Bourbons had been unceremoniously 
thrust upon her by triumphant and insolent foreign ar- 
mies, and the humiliating thought rankled in her heart, 
disposing her to look upon her rulers with no friendly 
eye. Then the charter, with which the people at first 
seem to have been rather satisfied, did not, as is well 
known, take the form of a compact, but pretended to be, 
as the name imported, a grant, proceeding from the 
king's independent will and pleasure. As long as this 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 295 

was looked ou as a matter of fornij it was hardly ob- 
jected to ; but ill course of time, when ministers 
seemed determined on interpreting it literally, and to 
claim that what the king had granted he could re- 
voke, universal indignation seized the people at this 
tyrannical invasion of their undoubted liberties. Bitter 
animosity, too, still existed between the different parties 
that distracted the country. The royalists, though furi- 
ously irritated against the liberals or revolutionary party, 
had been successfully kept in control by Louis XYIII., 
who often offended his own partisans by shielding their 
opponents from their violence. But in 1827, by death, 
and the natural operation of the electoral laws, the roy- 
alist party, though perpetuated and strongly supported 
by the coui't, fell into a decided minority, and yet, in- 
stead of yielding with good grace to the force of circum- 
stances, sought to maintain its ascendency by resorting 
to illegal means. 

Then the press was mercilessly shackled ; every me- 
morial of th^ revolution was erased ; even the tricolor, 
the national flag, which had blazed triumphantly over so 
many battle fields,' was rigidly proscribed. In short, the 
work of counter revolution was plied most perseveringly, 
but most imprudently. 

In 1829 the appointment of Polignac, the most un- 
popular man in the country, at the head of a new cab- 
inet, excited the indignation of France to the utmost. 
After a most stormy session, the ^^ Impossible Ministry, ^^ 
as it was called, from the difficulty it had in maintaining 
itself, was at last violently assailed on the 2d of March, 
1830, and a very hostile address to the king on the sub- 
ject was carried in the Chamber of Deputies, by a ma- 
jority of forty. At this the king first prorogued the 



296 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

houses, and then dissolved the Chamber of Deputies^ 
appointing the 23d of June and the od of July for the 
election of the members of a new chamber. But the . 
new elections, instead of diminishing the majority of the 
opposition, more than doubled it ; and means having 
been taken to ascertain this fact beyond doubt, the king 
and his ministers came to the insane resolution of setting 
the will of the country at open defiance. 

The election returns being all given in by the 21st of 
July, the famous ordinances were at once prepared. 
They were signed on the 25th, and published in the 
Moniteur on Monday, the 26th. No wonder that they 
produced a sensation. They were six in number. 

The first annihilated the liberty of the press at one 
blow, declaring that no journal should thenceforth ap- 
pear in Paris, or in the departments, without the royal 
permission expressly granted. The second dissolved 
the new Chamber of Deputies before they had met, 
thereby annulling the recent election. The third abro- 
gated the existing law of election itself, reducing the 
number of members from four hundred and thirty to 
two hundred and fifty-eight, sweeping off three fourths 
of the former constituency, abolishing vote by ballot — 
in a word, almost extinguishing all popular influence in 
the representative system. 

The remaining three ordinances were of minor im- 
portance, but equally as dispotic and distasteful. The 
astonishment and indignation of the Parisians may be 
imagined. The journalists, first struck at, were the first 
to meet together for self-defence. They immediately 
published a declaration, denying the legality of the or- 
dinances, and proclaiming their intention to publish their 
papers as usual. " Obedience," said they, " now ceases 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 297 

to be a duty." The city was in the greatest commotion 
all day ; still the government, apprehending nothing seri- 
ous, had taken no means -whatever to repress a disturb- 
ance. On Tuesday many printing offices were visited, 
and the presses broken ; but the papers, full of the most 
imflammatory language, were issued clandestinely, and 
distributed gratuitously among the people. Many of 
the members recently elected, having arrived in Paris, 
now assembled and protested unanimously against the 
ordinances. The manufacturers closed their shops and 
dismissed their hands, the banks refused to discount, the 
stores were shut up, and the printers of Paris, number- 
ing at least thirty -thousand, began to parade the streets, 
counselling resistance, and shouting, " Vive, la Charte.^* 
" A has les Ministres ! " 

Crowds increase ; the police, endeavoring to disperse 
them, are roughly handled. The troops are called out. 
Shots are fired, and men are slain. Omnibuses are upset, 
and barricades erected. Desperate fighting commences, 
and for three days rages over all the city. On the third 
day the king's troops are defeated at all points ; the 
Tuileries are stormed, and the king himself, with his 
royal family, flies to Eambouillet. A provisional govern- 
ment is organized. Charles, still full of confidence in 
the loyalty of Louis Philippe, writes him a letter an- 
nouncing his abdication in favor of his young grandson, 
the Duke of Bourdeaux. The abdication is accepted, but 
the Duke of Orleans is appointed lieutenant general 
of the kingdom ; and shortly after, upon signing and 
swearing to the Constitutional Charter, he is saluted 
Louis Philippe I., King of the French. The deposed 
monarch and his family quit the kingdom slowly, and 
without being disturbed. Such was the " glorious " 



298 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

revolution of July. The Constitutional . Charter was 
nothing but the old Charter of Louis XVIII., with a 
few modifications, the principal of which was the aboli- 
tion of the hereditary peerage. But little did any modi- 
fication trouble the astute Louis Phihppe, if it came in 
his way. The intense selfishness that had instigated him 
to snap at the crown, almost before it had fallen from 
the brow of his duped friend and too confiding benefac- 
tor, was the main spring of every action in his reign. 
This is not the place, however, to canvass the various 
objectionable acts of Louis Philippe's government. One 
sentence, taken from an article in the North American 
Review for July, 1848, says as much as we have space 
for on this subject. " During a reign in which his real 
authority and influence were immense, he did little for 
his country, little for the moral and intellectual eleva- 
tion of his people, and nothing for the gradual improve- 
ment of the political institutions of his kingdom, because 
his time and attention were absorbed in seeking splendid 
foreign alliances for his children, and in manoeuvring to 
maintain a supple majority in the Chambers, and to keep 
those ministers at the head of affairs, who would second 
most heartily his private designs." 

The people became so discontented as to wish openly 
never to have had a revolution. Not that he was with- 
out admirers. What names have we heard more liber- 
ally bestowed than the " Citizen King," the " Napoleon 
of Peace " ? But France was not to be deceived by 
empty words. In consequence of his wily system of 
corruption, the Chamber of Deputies had become a body 
of the most abject and fawning slaves. The country 
was furious at such a state of things, but could do noth- 
ing. In spite of all the exertions of every shade of the 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 299 

opposition, tlie electoral system was so much under offi- 
cial influence, that in September, 1846, two hundred 
and eighty-six ministerial candidates were elected, to one 
hundred and seventy-three of the opposition ! Taxes 
went on increasing every year, apparently only for the 
purpose of increasing the king's private fortune, already 
enormous. As La Presse said, " Ministers could not 
incur useful expenses, because useless expenses they 
had not the courage to suppress." Still not a measure, 
not a word of conciliation from the government. It was 
time to act. Of " monster meetings " the law would 
not allow, but there was nothing to prohibit monster 
banquets. In a short time these political festivities were 
held in every district in France. Though multitudi- 
nously attended, the king's health was always studiously 
omitted in the list of toasts. 

In this imperfect resume of the changes through 
which the Trench government had passed, from the 
meeting of the States General in 1789 to the eve of the 
fall of Louis Phihppe in 1848, we have trespassed too 
much on the time of many of our readers, who, we fear, 
must have thought the last chapters tedious and irrelevant. 
But it is almost unnecessary to say that it was not for 
learned students of history that they were intended. 
We desire to make our narrative, such as it is, at least 
clear and comprehensible to all. Such a digression, 
however, shall not occur again ; and, now the ground 
being cleared, we shall glance at the events that recalled 
Louis Napoleon so rapidly from his exile in England. 



300 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Parties in France. — The llimsfers. — Contest in the Cham' 
her. — Government Proclamation suppressiiig the Banquet. 
— Threatening State of the City in consequeyice. — National 
Guards begin to fraternize with the People. — Change of 
Ministry. — Insurrection still threatening. 

These banquets were tlie real causes of the revolution 
of 1848. They had not indeed been so intended; they 
had been commenced with the idea of recruiting forces 
for Thiers and Barrot, the leaders of the two great par- 
ties composing the opposition ; hut by the excitement 
which they caused, and the confidence they inspired, 
they recruited forces for the revolution. The wishes 
of the leaders had been limited to a change of ministry, 
effected by the pressure of the masses ; but passion soon 
overleaped the bounds calculated by politicians, and the 
people were already contemplating a change of govern- 
ment. Then behind the main body of the people were 
many secret sects and factions who dreamed of the entire 
overthrow of the social compact. 

These great parties divided the country — the repub- 
lican, the legitimist, and the liberal or constitutional. 
Of the moderate republicans, the National, a journal 
of great ability, edited by Marrast, was the representa- 
tive ; the views of the extreme and uncompromising 
section of the party were reflected by the Reforme, ed- 
ited by Flocon, and supported by the pens of Ledru 
Eollin and other republican deputies, who were too few 
in number to attract any attention in the Chamber. The 
legitimists adored the eldest branch of the Bourbons as 
a dogma, and abhorred the younger as a profanation of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 301 

monarcliy : their hatred towards the reigning dynasty, 
well expressed in the columns of the Gazette de France, 
edited by Genoude, had a powerful advocate in the 
Chamber in the person of Berryer, the orator, with 
whose speech on the trial of Louis Napoleon our readers 
are already acquainted. The rest of the nation — its 
great majority — composed the liberal and constitutional 
party, of the politically active portion of which the fiery 
and fearless La Presse was perhaps the best exponent, 
and Odillon Barrot the honest and able orator. 

For seventeen years Louis Philippe had been success- 
fully baffling the republicans, circumventing the legiti- 
mists, and manoeuvring between the different shades 
of the constitutional party, until at last he had sur- 
rounded himself with every external appearance of 
abiding strength — devoted ministers, supple Chambers, 
acquiescent public functionaries, electors sold to his for- 
tunes, and, what seemed most reliable of all, an emi- 
nent degree of prosperity and material well-being spread 
throughout the country. Resistance to his government 
seemed utterly futile. Still the heart of the nation did 
not go with him, and as Lamartine says, there was some- 
thing like remorse in her prosperity, that destroyed her 
peace. 

Louis Philippe appears to have had little apprehen- 
sion of the storm that was soon to hurl him from his 
throne. His ministers, Duchatel and Guizot, seemed 
equally blinded. Duchatel, a practical man of business, 
had a great confidence in his skilful management of the 
different parties of the Senate, and in his wise regulation 
of the votes under his control. Guizot, a " philoso- 
pher," a '^ scholar," a " non-enthusiast," possessed the 
most uubounded self-reliance ; and though nobody had 
^6 



302 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

the words " liberty/' "equality/' more frequently on his 
lips, he held the " vulgar " in the utmost contempt. 

On the opening of the Chambers in December, 1847^ 
in order that the undoubted majority supporting the gov- 
ernment might have an opportunity to display itself to 
advantage, and thus effectually frown down the menaces 
of the opposition, the king in his speech characterized 
the members of both houses that had attended the ban- 
quets as hostile to royalty, and blind to results. His 
words were, ^^ Amidst the agitation which hostile and 
hlind passions foment, a conviction animates and sup- 
ports me, which is, that we possess in the constitutional 
monarchy, in the union of the great powers of the state, 
sure means of overcoming all those obstacles, and of sat- 
isfying all interests, moral and material." 

These severe, if not imprudent expressions excited 
an angry debate. Thiers, the mouthpiece of the oppo- 
sition, led off; Odillon Barrot showed equal vehemence ; 
and Ledru RoUin delivered a speech on the occasion 
which thenceforth placed him in the first rank of the 
orators of the opposition. 

The result was, that by way of maintaining their po- 
litical rights of assemblage and public expression of 
thought, the senators and deputies, who felt themselves 
hurt by the allusion, determined to attend the great 
banquet to be given by the twelfth arrondissement (dis- 
trict) of Paris, on the 20th of February, 1848. 

This course ministers did not care to oppose : they 
intended only to protest against the legality of the ban- 
quet, to send a commissary of police there to prove the 
fact of attendance, and then to bring the question for 
judgment to the tribunals. Some antiquated law , of 
1*790, decla|:ing such assemblies illegal, was still in exist- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 303 

ence ; but the opposition wrs unanimous in accepting tlie 
contest on this ground, and every preparation was made 
for carrying out this grand pacific demonstration. All 
Paris looked forward with impatience for the 20th, and 
it was already regarded as a holiday meriting especial 
observance. 

But by the 20th all the arrangements were not com- 
pleted, and the banquet was deferred to Tuesday, the 
223.. So far both the contending parties had kept within 
reasonable limits. - But in the programme that appeared 
on Monday, announcing the regulations, the opposition 
invited the deputies, about two hundred, to assemble in 
the Place de la Madeleine between eleven and twelve 
o'clock on that day, and the other guests — magistrates, 
members of councils general, provincial deputations 
from schools of law and medicine, colleges, &c. — in all 
about fifteen hundred in number, to meet in the Place 
de la Concorde, from both of which localities the whole 
congregated assemblage was to march off in procession 
to the place appointed for the general muster. Ten 
thousand National Guards also, (an institution some- 
what resembling our militia,) in uniform, but unarmed, 
were to line the route in double file along the avenue 
leading to the Arc de Triomphe, at the farther end of 
the Champs Elysees. This invitation of the ISTational 
Guards was considered to be a most happy idea, as it 
was certain that the presence of that body would effec- 
tually prevent a collision between the military and the 
people. 

But though, among the regulations agreed to by the 
committee, it was publicly announced that only one 
toast would be given, namely, " Reform and the Eight 
of Meeting," introduced in a short speech by Odillon 



304 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

Barrot^ and that all the guests, as well as the National 
Guards, were then to separate and proceed to their re- 
spective homes, such gigantic preparations so alarmed 
the government that it retracted its concessions, and de- 
clared its determination to put down the demonstration 
by force. 

•This resolution, however, seems to have been adopted 
only at the last moment ; for it was late on Monday even- 
ing when the following proclamation was posted up in 
different parts of Paris : ^' Parisians : The government 
had interdicted the banquet of the IStli arrondissement. 
It kept within its right in doing this, being authorized 
by the letter and spirit of the law. Nevertheless, in 
consequence of the discussion which took place in the 
Chamber on this subject, thinking that the opposition 
was acting in good faith, it resolved to afford the oppor- 
tunity of submitting the question of the legality of 
banquets to the appreciation " of the tribunals and the 
High Court of Cassation. To do this, it had resolved 
to authorize for to-morrow the entrance into the banquet 
room ; hoping that the persons present at the manifesta- 
tion would have the wisdom to retire at the first sum- 
mons. But, by the manifesto published this morning, 
calling the public to a demonstration, convoking the 
National Guards, assigning them a place ranked by the 
legions, and ranging them in line, a government is raised 
in opposition to, the real government, usurps the public 
power, and openly violates the charter. These are the 
acts which the government cannot tolerate. In conse- 
quence, the banquet of the 12th arrondisse^nent shall 
not take place. Parisians, remain deaf to every excite- 
ment to disorder. Do not, by tumultuous assemblages, 
afford grounds for a repression which the government 
would deplore." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 305 

•Besides this proclamation, anotlier to tlie same effect 
was issued by the prefect of police, and an order of the 
day was sent by General Jacqueminot, commander-in- 
chief of the National Guards, prohibiting their attend- 
ance at the banquet. In this emergency, Odillon Barrot 
immediately convoked the opposition at his own house 
for deliberation ; there it was agreed to yield to the 
violent resolution of the government, and that the pro- 
posed banquet should not take place. But it was also 
determined to impeach the ministry. 

Monday night passed away in a silence that was only 
slightly disturbed by the tread of various bodies of 
troops, marching from Yincennes and other near locali- 
ties into the heart of the city. The total garrison in 
possession of Paris amounted, it was said, to 100,000 
men. 

Tuesday morning did not threaten any thing omi- 
nous. The streets, indeed, were filled with artisans and 
the working classes generally, and crowds streamed in 
from the suburbs, and either not aware of the counter 
orders issued the previous evening, or unwilling to fore- 
go their fete, all seemed determined to enjoy the holiday. 

About twelve o'clock, however, the students, many 
of them mere boys, assembled in groups from various 
quarters of the city, and gathering numbers and courage 
as they rolled along, chanting the Marseillaise, directed 
their course to the Place de la Madeleine, the spot from 
which the deputies had been invited to start for the in- 
tended banquet. The people joined in with the hymn, 
which was occasionally varied with loud cries of " Down 
with Guizot.^^ The column increased, crossed the Place 
de la Concorde, passed the Pont Royal, forced the pali- 
sades of the Chamber of Deputies ; but being easily and 
26* 



306 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

■Qnresistingly dispersed by a regiment of dragoons, they 
spread, without a leader or a specific object, into the gar- 
den, of the palace, and all along the quays. The infan- 
try soon arrived ; the artillery took its station around 
the palace, and defended the bridge. 

A military band was playing as the deputies arrived 
and took their places in the hall. The attendance was 
not great. Odillon Barrot entered about three o'clock, 
accompanied by his friends, one of whom, going up to 
the president's desk, laid upon it a paper containing the 
articles of the indictment against the ministry. M. 
Guizot at once quitted his place, went up to the desk, 
perused the accusation, and smiled disdainfully. He 
w^as confident in the support of his majority within the 
chamber, and in that of his sovereign and a powerful 
army without. The council soon dispersed, after agree- 
ing that the impeachment question was to be brought up 
on Thursday. 

Very little more was done on Tuesday publicly. 
From subsequent events, however, we must conclude 
that all this day and the following night the secret socie- 
ties must have been hard at work concocting their plans ; 
nor could the insurrectionary committees have been idle 
in the mean time at the journal ofiices. Not but that 
even on Tuesday some fighting was going on. In dif- 
ferent parts of the city, particularly in that quarter in- 
habited by the poor, between Rue St. Denis and Bue St. 
Martin, the populace, though unarmed, began to erect 
barricades in the streets by tearing up the pavement, and 
seizing carts and omnibuses. These hasty works, how- 
ever, were soon carried by the Municipal Guards (Paris 
policemen) and the troops, yet at some of them there 
was hard fighting. Several gunsmiths' shops were 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 307 

broken into and plundered. Late in the evening various 
arrests were made, and in resisting an attempt to release 
the prisoners from custody, a Municipal Guard was 
killed, while one of the insurgents lost his life at the 
same time. 

Ultimately the Municipal Guards succeeded in dispers- 
ing the people and retaining possession of their prison- 
ers. All parts of the capital were occupied by the 
troops, who remaiaed under arms throughout the whole 
of Tuesday night, demolishing, in the mean time, the 
numberless barricades w^hich the insurgents had raised, 
so that they were totally destroyed by the morning. 

But still the latter were not to be put down or intim- 
idated. On the contrary, they were found on Wednes- 
day morniiig with increased activity and augmented 
numbers, many of them supplied with arms, and all re- 
constructing barricades. To prevent, if possible, ef- 
fusion of blood, the National Guard was called out, but 
obeyed the summons very leisurely. 

From an early hour a great agitation prevailed in the 
city. Crowds, full of curiosity, streamed towards the 
Champs Elysees. By nine o'clock gatherings had been 
formed along the whole line of the Boulevards.* Dur- 
ing the whole day the weather was frightful ; the air 
was cold, and the rain fell in torrents. The infantry and 
cavalry, scattered around in all directions, in vain ex- 
hausted themselves in dispersing the crowds and taking 
possession of the barricades. Crowds assemble and 



* The Boulevards, on tlie site of the ancient ramparts that surrounded 
Paris, are now wide streets lined with trees, and containing the finest ho- 
tels, stores, theatres, &c., in the city. They always present a very ani- 
mated appearance, and here especially can Parisian life be viewed in all its 
aspects. 



308 LIFE OF NAPOLEON ill. 

barricades arise as soon as tlie troops quit one spot to 
go elsewhere. An immense mob, crying, " Down with 
Guizot ! " " Long live Reform ! " moved towards the 
Place des Petits Peres, where the third legion of the 
National Guards was stationed. A squadron of cuiras- 
siers hastens to charge this formidable assemblage ; but 
the National Guards, ranging themselves before the in- 
surgents, present their bayonets to the cuirassiers. The 
latter, naturally unwilling to provoke a contest with 
armed and resolute citizens, retire, on receiving the for- 
mal promise of the National Guard to have the place 
cleared. A similar scene took place in the Rue Lepel- 
letier. In the afternoon a deputation of the eighth 
legion presented a petition to General Jacqueminot, de- 
manding the dismissal of the ministry. The National 
Guard was clearly taking part in the revolution. 

The previous evening, in a conversation with Marshal 
Trezel, the king had expressed himself to be very un- 
easy at the acts of violence committed by the people, 
and full of fear that such outrages could not be re- 
pressed without a sanguinary battle. Though the mar- 
shal scouted the idea of any serious danger, the king 
would not be satisfied until he had learned from the 
commander-in-chief of the National Guards what reli- 
ance could be placed on the officers and men under his 
command. Accordingly the marshal went to General 
Jacqueminot's house, found him in bed and unwell, 
but still explained the object of his visit. The general 
terminated a half hour's conversation with these words : 
" Tell the king that out of the three hundred and eighty- 
four companies of the National Guard of Paris, six oi* 
seven are badly disposed, but that all the others are 
sincerely attached to the monarchy." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 309 

" Six or seven bad ! " said Louis Philippe, on hearing 
the report. " O, sixteen or seventeen would be nearer 
the truth ! " 

Louis Philippe was little less mistaken than the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

This sense of fancied security was soon to be dis- 
pelled. About two o'clock, M. Duchatel hastened to 
inform Louis Philippe that the third legion of the Na- 
tional Guard had declared in favor of the insurrection, 
and that affairs were every moment assuming a graver 
aspect. The king seemed troubled ; he sent for the 
queen, who soon appeared, accompanied by his youngest 
son, the Duke de Montpensier. 

" Ministers," said the queen, " are, I doubt not, de- 
voted to the king as well as to France. I appeal to 
their devotion ! Their presence in the cabinet is dan- 
gerous to the monarchy. I invite them to resign." 

The king objected ; but the queen continued to in- 
sist, and the Duke de Montpensier strongly supported 
her advice. Guizot was at the chamber ; he was sent 
for, and soon appeared. The king, queen, Duke de 
Montpensier, MM. Guizot and Duchatel were now to- 
gether. The king expressed deep regret at being 
obliged to separate from his ministers ; he even added 
that he preferred abdicating. 

" What do you say, mon ami 7 " interrupted the 
queen ; " you owe all your days to France ; you cannot 
abdicate." 

Guizot protested against the idea of the cabinet re- 
signing at such a moment ; but the king said the safety 
of France required the sacrifice of his ministry. The 
queen and the Duke de Montpensier supported this dec- 
laration of the king. From this moment it was decided 



310 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

to call M. Mole to the head of the cabinet. The Duke 
de Montpensier proposed not to stop there. '^ We might 
as well extricate ourselves out of the difficulty alto- 
gether/' said he, " by sending immediately to the Cham- 
ber of Deputies a project for electoral reform, and an- 
other for parliamentary reform." 

But the Count Duchatel replied with firmness, " I 
will never be the bearer of such concessions." * 

Guizot returned immediately to the Chamber, where 
he found M. Yavin, a deputy of Paris, indulging in 
strong expressions against the ministry, and bringing 
them to an account for the present state of things. To 
his questions Guizot contented himself by replying that 
the king had just sent for M. Mole, to charge him with 
the reconstruction of a cabinet. At this intelligence, 
unbounded dismay fell upon the ministerial majority, 
whilst the Left gave vent to their joy in loud and repeat- 
ed cheers. 

Orderly officers, the king's aides-de-camp, and the staiF 
officers of the National Guard, immediately hastened 
through Paris to announce the formation of a new min- 
istry. General Friant declared every where, in a loud 
voice, that the troops of the line had received orders to 
return to their barracks, and that not a gunshot more 
was to be fired. 

The news was received with every demonstration of 
joy. Nothing was more common than to see citizens and 
National Guards embracing each other in the streets, con- 
gratulating themselves on the recovery of their rights. 
The houses were illuminated as on a day of general 
triumph. The cafes and other great establishments on 

* Memoires d'un Bourgeois de Paris, 5i^me volume. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 311 

the Boulevards seemed on fire from their brilliant dis- 
play of gas light. 

In the mean time the king and M. Mole, in a recess 
of one of the windows of the Tuileries, were discussing 
the conditions and the programme of a new cabinet, but 
succeeded so little in coming to an understanding, that 
a new interview was judged necessary. There seemed 
to be.no necessity for precipitation. 

The aides-de-camp and orderly officers, who had been 
ordered to proclaim the fall of the ministry, now returned 
to the Tuileries, happy to announce to the king that his 
resolution had given general satisfaction, and that every 
thing was quiet. At this news the Duchess of Orleans,* 
seeinsc the windows everv where illuminated, exclaimed, 
with tears of joy as she embraced her son, the Count of 
Paris, " Poor child ! your crown has indeed been com- 
promised ; but now Heaven has restored it." 

The poor mother was not the only one completely de- 
ceived by the fallacious aspect of affairs. At that very 
moment an explosion took place, which, it is hardly too 
much to say, shattered her child's crown to pieces, and 
cast away the fragments forever. 

The secret societies, the republicans, and the extreme 
section of the journalists, had not been engaged so long 
at hard work for nothing. Was all this trouble and ex- 
citement to end only in a simple change of ministers, 
and the reestablishment of monarchy on a solid basis ? 

Let Lamartine describe the next scene in his own pe- 
culiar, graphic style. 

* The widow of the Duke of Orleans, the eldest son of Louis Philippe, a 
most popular prince, whose premature death, by a fall out of his carriage, 
in 1842, was a great blow to the Orleans dynasty. The next son, the Duke 
de Nemours, who was to be regent in case Louis Philippe died during the 
minority of the Count of Paris, was by no means popular. 



312 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^The difference between these two revolutionary 
classes was^ that the first was inspired by the hatred of 
royalty, the second by the progress of the species. Re- 
publicanism and equality were the objects of the one ; 
social renovation and fraternity those of the other. 

'^ About six o'clock in the evening, a little column of 
republicans, of the younger trading population, issued 
from the Rue Lepelletier, and formed a silent^ group 
before the door of the National newspaper, as though 
it were the appointed place of rendezvous. In all our 
revolutions, counsel is kept, the word of command is 
given, and the impulse is directed at the office of a jour- 
nal. These are the comitia of public opinion, the mova- 
ble tribunes of the people. A long conference took 
place between the republicans within and the republicans 
without. Expressions, brief but energetic, were inter- 
changed through the low and barred window of the 
porter's lodge. The group, inspired with the flame they 
were about to spread, advanced with cries of ' Reform.' 
* Down with the ministers ! ' ' To the Boulevard ! ' 

"' Scarcely had it quitted the office of the National 
when another column — the workmen and popular par- 
tisans — presented itself at the same place, and halted 
at the command of their leader. They seem to have 
been expected ; a clapping of hands was heard within the 
house ; a young, man of slight stature, with a fiery eye, 
with lips agitated by enthusiasm, and hair dishevelled 
by the breath of inspiration, mounted the inner wall of 
the window, and harangued the assembly. The spec^- 
tators saw but gestures, and heard but the sound of a 
voice and some thrilling expressions, emphasized by lips 
of a southern contour. * * * It was Marrast, the 
editor, who by turns delighted as a wit, and hurled in 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 313 

thunder the sarcasms and indignation of the republican 
opposition. 

^^ A feeling correspondent to this address soon showed 
itself in the impatient expression, the attitudes, and in- 
articulate murmurs of this martial group ; they retired, 
and united with the former body, which seemed to direct 
their movements. Two other bodies, in similar silence, 
advanced at the same instant, like a detached corps, 
towards a position which had been previously agreed 
upon. The one seemed to come from the populous and 
ever-disturbed region of the Boulevard de la Bastile. 
The other came from the centre of Paris, having formed 
its nucleus in the of&ce of the Reforme journal. * * 
The latter had arms beneath their clothes, and marched 
like a troop inured to war and grown old amidst firing. 

" The column of the Boulevard de la Bastile was 
more numerous, but less compact and adult. It was 
attended by a number of women and ragged children, 
the migrating refuse of the suburbs. 

"A man of about forty years of age, tall, thin, with 
hair curled and falling on his shoulders, dressed in a 
white frock, well worn and stained with dirt, marched 
with a military step at their head. His arms were 
folded over his chest, his head slightly bent forward, 
with the air of one who was about to face bullets delib- 
erately, and to brave death with exultation. In the eyes 
of this man, well known by the multitude, was concen- 
trated all the fire of the revolution ; his physiognomy 
was the living expression of the defiance of opposing 
force ; his lips, incessantly agitated as if by a mental 
harangue, were pale and trembling. 

*^ We are told that his name was Lagrange. 

" In the neighborhood of the Cafe Tortoni, the ren« 
g7 



314 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

dezvous of idlers, these bodies united their momentum. 
They cleared a way through the inquisitive and idle 
throng, which undulated with the natural wane of the 
multitudes to the great thoroughfare of the Boulevards. 
A crowd of inoffensive people followed mechanically in 
the train of this silent column. A small detachment, 
composed of workmen armed with sabres and pikes, 
separated from the principal body at the top of the Eue 
de Choiseul, and silently took possession of that street. 
The object of this detachment appeared to be to flank 
the Hotel of Foreign Affairs, (Guizot's residence,) which 
was occupied by troops, while the head of the column 
presented itself in front. An unknown system of opera- 
tion evidently combined and controlled these move- 
ments. The unanimous whisper, of a revolution raises 
the masses. None but conspirators can with such pre- 
cision govern its chances and guide its evolutions. 

'' In the midst of the smoke of torches, a red flag 
waved over the first rank of the multitude. They con- 
tinued to advance, multi|)lying in their progress. A 
misgiving curiosity was attracted to this cloud of men^ 
who seemed to carry in their midst the mystery of the 
day. In front of the Hotel of Foreign Affairs, a bat- 
talion of the line, drawn up in battle array, with loaded 
arms, and their commander at their head, extended across 
the Boulevard, obstructing the passage. Before this 
hedge of bayonets the • column suddenly halts. The 
flapping of the flag and the flash of the torches fright- 
ened the horse of the commander ; recoiling in terror 
on his haunches, he plunged into the battalion, which 
opened to receive its chief. In the confusion of the 
moment the report of a musket was heard. Did it 
come, as was said, from some concealed and disaffected 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 315 

hand, fired on the people by one of their own agitators, 
to revive by the sight of blood the ardor of a struggle 
which was subsiding ? Did it come from the hand of 
one of the insurgents, directed against the troops ? or 
rather, which is more probable, did it accidentally arise 
from the shock of some loaded musket, or from the hand 
of one of the soldiers, who supposed that his commander 
was wounded when he saw his horse take fright ? This 
no man knows. Whether by crime or by accident, this 
explosion created a revolution." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

devolution of 1848 continued. — Massacre before Guizofs 
Residence. — Pleasures of the Republicans. — Louis Phi- 
lippe calls on Thiers to form a Ministry. — Storming of the 
Palais Royal and Massacre of the Municipal Guards. — 
Abdication of the King. — Regency of the Duchess of Or- 
leans rejected in the Chamber of Deputies , and a Republic 
proclaimed. — The new Government takes Possession of the 
Hotel de Ville, and tries to restore Order. 

We resume Lamartine's vivid description of the events 
of the night of Wednesday, February 23, 1848. 

The shot had come from an unknown hand. 

" The soldiers, considering themselves attacked, pre- 
sented their guns. The whole line instantaneously fired. 
The discharge, reverberated by lofty houses and by the 
enclosed streets of the centre of Paris, throws the whole 
Boulevard into excitement. The column of the people 
of the Faubourgs falls decimated by the balls. The 



316 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

cries of mental agony and the groans of the woiinded 
mingle with the affrighted shouts of those who had fol- 
lowed from curiosity, and of flying women and chil- 
dren. They rush into the adjoining houses, into the 
lower streets, and beneath the archways. By the light 
of torches, half extinguished in the blood upon the 
pavement, heaps of dead bodies are perceived strewing 
the thoroughfare in all directions. The terrified multi- 
tude, supposing themselves pursued, fly with cries of 
vengeance to the Rue Laffitte, leaving between them- 
selves and the battalions an empty space in silence and 
darkness. 

^^ The multitude supposed that they had been treacher- 
ously fired upon in the midst of a demonstration of joy 
and of harmony, occasioned by a change of ministry. 
They turned their rage against ministers, who were so 
perfidious as to avenge their fall by torrents of blood, 
and against a king obstinate enough to fire on that very 
people who had crowned him at the sacrifice of their 
very lives, in 1830. The soldiers, on their part, were 
thrown into consternation by this undesigned massacre. 
No one had given orders to fire ; nothing had been 
heard but the word of command to fix bayonets, to resist 
the ,fire expected from this sudden movement of the 
people. Darkness, confusion, chance, and precipitation 
had done the deed. The footing of the soldiery was 
deluged with blood ; the wounded dragged themselves 
along to die at the feet of the murderers. Tears of 
despair fiowed from the eyes of the general. The 
oflicers dropped the points of their swords upon the 
pavement, deploring this unintentional crime. They 
foresaw the necessary effect of this involuntary mur- 
der of the people upon the mind of the population of 
Paris. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 317 

" Meanwhile tlie news spread, with, a rapidity equal 
to that of the firing, through the whole line of the 
Boulevards, and through one half of Paris. The body 
which had marched from the Faubourg, scattered and 
thrown into confusion for a moment, soon regained their 
order, and began to collect their dead. Large wagons, 
perfectly prepared, were found at hand, even at this ad- 
vanced hour of night, as if they had heen previously 
obtained in order to exhibit through Paris these lifeless 
bodies, the mere sight of which was destined to rehjindle 
the fury of the people. They collect the corpses and 
arrange them on wagons, with their arms hanging over 
the side, with their wounds exposed and their blood 
dripping on the wheels. They carry them by torch 
light before the office of the National, as the symbol of 
approaching vengeance exhibited in the cradle of the 
republic. 

^^ After a mounful pause, the procession takes its way 
to the Rue Montmartre, and halts before the office of 
the Reforme paper — a new appeal to the irreconcilable 
hatred existing between the monarchy and the republic. 
Deep and confused cries, as if smothered by indignation 
and by the sobs of the procession, rise to the windows 
of the houses. ■ A man, standing upon the carriage with 
his feet bathed in blood, raises from time to time from 
the lifeless heap the corpse of a woman, exhibits it to 
the multitude, and lays it again in its bloody bed. At 
this sight the pity of the bystanders assumes the charac- 
ter of fury, and they rush to their houses to arm. The 
streets become empty. A close array of men, armed 
with muskets, parades around, and enters the gloomy 
lanes of the densely-populated centre of Paris. In the 
direction of the Place St. Martin, they rap at every door 
27* 



318 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

in succession, to summon new combatants to vengeance. 
At the spectacle of these victims, exhibited to reproach 
royalty, these districts arise, rush where they are sum- 
moned by the bells, sound the tocsin, unpave the streets, 
and raise and multiply barricades. From time to time 
the noise of firing echoes, and forbids sleep to assuage 
the anxiety and indignation of the capital. Peals from 
church to church carry even to the ears of the king, at 
the Tuileries, those sounds which were the feverish pre- 
cursors of to-morrow's insurrection."* 

In all this it is easy to see that the leaders of the 
secret societies had now taken the revolution in their 
own hands, and were fally determined to make the most 
of the frightful act, so opportunely committed by the 
king's troops. 

Before the fatal discharge had been fired, and whilst 
the procession was still advancing, a functionary, high 
in office, eajoying the confidence of Guizot, ran with all 
his speed to the Ministry of the Interior, where Guizot, 
Duchatel, and De Salvandy were assembled. He found 
them congratulating themselves on the favorable state 
of things at the close of the day, and disposed to dis- 
regard altogether his emotion and his language. " You 
are badly informed," they exclaimed ; " our soldiers 
seek for the insurrection every where, but it cannot be 
found." 

" You know nothing, then, of what is passing ? I tell 
you the Ministry of Foreign Afi'airs and the battalion set 
before it are being attacked this very moment." 

The brother of Duchatel' soon entered, and announced 
that the battalion had fired on the people, and strewed 

* Histoire de la Revolution Fran9aise de 1848, par Lamartine. Livre 
2i^ine. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 319 

the pavement with the dead and dying. " The Hotel of 
Foreign Affairs," he added, '^ is no doubt pillaged ; the 
insurrection will assume to-night, and especially to-mor- 
row, an alarming importance." This intelligence, soon 
confirmed by new informants, threw the dismissed, but 
not replaced, ministers into fresh perplexity. 

They soon decided, however, that Marshal Bugeaud 
should be immediately invested with the chief command 
of the army of Paris and of the National Guard. They 
repaired at once to the Tuileries, where they found 
Louis Philippe seated in his cabinet, surrounded by 
many important personages — amongst others the Duke 
de Montpensier. The nomination of the marshal was 
vehemently combated by many present, especially by 
the young duke ; but Duchatel strongly and ably insist- 
ing on the measure, it received the approbation of the 
king. 

The marshal proceeded at once to head quarters, ac- 
companied by the Duke de Nemours and Duchatel. He 
inspected the troops that he found assembled on the 
Place du Carrousel. 

'' Well, marshal," said the duke, after the inspection, 
'^ what do you think of to-morrow ? " 

" Monseigneur, it will be rough, but it will be ours. 
I have never yet been beaten, and I am not going to 
commence to-morrow. Certainly, it would be better 
not to have lost so much time ; but no matter ; I will 
answer for the result if I am left alone. It must not be 
imagined that I can manage without bloodshed. Per-, 
haps there will be much, for I begin with cannon. But 
don't be uneasy ; to-morrow evening the authority of 
the king and of the law shall be reestablished, and the 
factious shall have received a good lesson." The mar- 



320 LIFE OF NAPOLEON HI. 

shal pronounced these words with a calm, energetic air| 
and there is no donbt that, had he been left in com- 
mand, notwithstanding his unpopularity,, the result would 
have been very different. 

In the mean time the king was waiting for M. Mole ; 
but M. Mole, discouraged by the previous conversation, 
did not make his appearance. The king then sent for 
Thiers. Thiers came and took on himself the forma- 
tion of a ministry, provided Odillon Barrot should be a 
member of it, and also that Bugeaud should be super- 
seded in his command. The king, whose want of pres- 
ence 01 mind seems incredible, consented to every thing. 
Thiers then, taking a pen, wrote out the following 
proclamation, which appeared in some of the papers 
next day, announcing the formation of a new cabinet : — 

« Paris, February 24, 1848. 
*^ Citizens of Paris : Orders are given every where 
to cease firing. 

^' "We have just received the commands of the king 
to form a ministry. 

" The Chamber is to be dissolved. An appeal is 
made to the country. 

^^ General Lamoriciere is appointed commander-in- 
chief of the Xational Guard of Paris. 

" MM. Thiers, Bajrrot, Duvergier de Hauranne, are 
ministers. 

" Signed : ^^ A. Thiers, 

* Odillon Bae-rot, 

^^ General Lamoriciere, 

"Duvergier de Hauranne. 

'« LIBEETY, ORDEE, AND EEEOEM." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 321 

M. Thiers seemed quite confident that the sight of 
this proclamation would put an end to all further dis- 
turbance, and soon retired. About four o'clock in the 
morning the king withdrew to his bed chamber, fully as 
confident of the efiicacy of the new measures as M. 
Thiers. 

But what a change had taken place in affairs by eleven 
o'clock, when he came down, with a smiling countenance 
and in a negligent dress, to the dining room, to partake 
of the family breakfast ! 

Then he leai-ns that all Paris is in insurrection ; that 
his troops, disgusted at the contradictory orders which 
they had received, were doing little or nothing in the 
way of resistance ; that the National Guard was openly 
fraternizing with the insurgents ; that the Thiers proc- 
lamations were torn down or utterly disregarded; that 
his Palais Poyal had been taken and plundered by the 
populace; and that it was their shouts he now heard 
ringing loudly and menacingly, only a few squares off. 

Astounded at such intelligence, Louis Philippe retires 
to his chamber, puts on his uniform of the National 
Guard, mounts his horse, and rides through the Place 
du Carrousel, to review the troops di^awn up there. 
The infantry and the cavalry still receive him with 
shouts of "Vive le Roi! ^^ but two battalions of the 
National Guard discourage and bewilder him with cries 
of ^' Vive la Reforme!'' A neighboring building, the 
Chateau d'Eau, is assailed by a furious mob ; the gates 
and windows are strong, and the defenders resolute ; 
many a shouting revolutionist breathes his last on the 
pavement. But the workmen of Paris, the bravest, or 
the most reckless, perhaps, in the world, become but 
more daring ; they drag up carriages to the gates ; they 



322 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 

heap fagots around ; fire is set to the pile, and the whole 
face of the Chateau d'Eau is enveloped in flames. The 
gates soon yield, but the mob need not burst in ; fire 
and smoke have silenced forever the fifty faithful Mu- 
nicipal Guards that had so bravely defended their post. 

And this tragedy took place within a few yards of 
large bodies of troops, motionless, paralyzed, as it were, 
to insensibility, under the orders of commanding officers 
whom the unfortunate king and the new ministry, in- 
fatuated as the old, had forbidden to fight. They were 
all assembled together in the cabinet, disputing about 
trifling matters, when a prolonged firing burst forth at 
the extremity of the palace, near the Place du Carrousel. 
At this moment the door of the cabinet opened, and 
Emile Girardin, editor oi La Presse, rushed in to the king. 

In a few respectful words he informed Louis Philippe 
that the time for hunting after names to form a cabinet 
was passed ; that the crisis was sweeping away the 
throne and its counsels together. 

'^ What is to be done ? " asked the king. 

'' Sire," answered Girardin, " within an hour, perhaps, 
there shall be no such thing as monarchy in France. 
At present the crisis admits of no third alternative. 
The king must abdicate, or the monarchy shall abdicate. 
Such is the dilemma." 

Saying this, he presented to the king a copy of a 
proclamation which he had written beforehand, and had 
already sent to the press. It contained only four lines, 
and announced — 

The abdication of the king. 

The regency of the Duchess of Orleans. 

The dissolution of the Chamber. 

General amnesty. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 323 

The king hesitated ; but a new explosion of firearms 
was heard close at hand, and the Duke de Montpensier, 
who apparently wished his father to do something, im- 
plored him to complete the sacrifice. Louis Pliilippe at 
last wrote the following words : — 

" I abdicate in favor of my grandson, the Count of 
Paris, and I trust that he will be more fortunate than I." 

This proclamation made no provision for the regency, 
and either purposely or accidentally was without a sig- 
nature. Consequently it had no effect whatever on the 
advancing multitudes, though, indeed, it is doubtful if 
any thing could have stopped them except downright 
physical force. The shouting was becoming louder, and 
the rattling of the musketry nearer. 

Till then the king had worn the uniform of the Na- 
tional Guard ; but, passing into a neighboring apart- 
ment, he soon returned in the dress of a citizen. The 
queen accompanied him. Her agitation was extreme, 
and she gave vent to her sorrow in the most touching 
exclamations. ^^ Ah," she often repeated, in accents of 
gentle reproach, " the French will see if it be easy to 
find so good a king. They shall never find his like. 
They shall regret him, but it will be too late ! " 

The Duchess of Orleans, who had witnessed all this 
in silence, now seeing the king preparing to depart, rose 
to follow him, exclaiming, in a broken voice, " Are you 
going to leave me here alone, without parents, friends, 
or any one to advise me ? What do you want to become 
of me ? " The king replied, with much kindness, '' My 
dear Helene, the dynasty must be saved, and the crown 
preserved to your son. Remain here, then, for his sake ; 
it is a sacrifice which you owe him." Still she threw 
herself at his feet, and implored him to take her with him. 



324 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

But her entreaties were vain, and tlie king, queen, and 
the rest of the royal family left the chamber immediately. 
After some severe difficulties and vicissitudes they suc- 
ceeded in making their escape, and nearly all found 
refuge in England. The Duke of Nemours, after pro- 
tecting the departure of his father, was to remain to 
take care of the duchess and her children. She re- 
mained standing in the same apartment, surrounded by 
some friends, undecided what course to take. The 
fighting was still going on outside. After some time, 
her friend, M. Dupin, suddenly entered. 

" What news have you for me ? " she asked. 

" I am come to tell you," he replied, hopefully, 
" that perhaps the part of a second Maria Theresa is 
reserved for you." 

'' Direct me," said the princess ; " my life belongs to 
France and to my children." 

" Then let us depart ; we have not a moment to lose. 
Let ns go to the Chamber of Deputies." 

The Duke de Nemours, having by this time seen his 
father safely off, and received his parting benediction, 
now returned, and walked beside the princess on her 
way to the Chamber of Deputies. M. Dupin was at the 
other side. She led her eldest son, the Count of Paris, 
by the hand, whilst her other child, the Duke de Char- 
tres, was carried in the arms of an aide-de-camp. 

Scarcely had they quitted the palace of the Tuileries, 
when a body of republicans, headed by Captain Dunoyer, 
forced their way into it, filled the apartments, swept 
away every trace of royalty, proclaimed the repubhc, 
tore away the drapery which served as a canopy to the 
throne, formed the tatters into trophies, scarfs, and cock- 
ades, and, satisfied with their work there, soon reformed. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 325 

and set out for tlie Chamber of Deputies on tlie lieels of 
the regency party.* 

In the mean time the duchess, radiant in youth and 
beauty, pale with terror and anxiety, leading her chil- 
dren by the hand, on entering the Chamber had created 
among the assembled deputies a sensation decidedly fa- 
vorable to her claims. But as Sauzet, the president, 
"was warmly speaking in advocacy of her pretensions to 
-the regency during the minority of her son, a multitude 
of the populace, National Guards, &c., bursting in, in- 
terrupted his speech, and caused much confusion for 
some time. Lamartine, seeing that discussion was fet- 
tered by the presence of the princess, moved an adjourn- 
ment until she should have retired ; and this not succeed- 
ing, M. Marie, a stern, decided man, told the assembly 
plainly that they could not appoint the Duchess of Or- 
leans regent until they had repealed the law nominating 
the Duke de Nemours to that office. In the mean time 
the cries demanded the establishment of a provisional 
government. 

Odillon Barrot's powerful speech in favor of the 
duchess and order w^as listened to in silence, and he 
had hardly concluded when a new tumult w^as heard. 
It was Dunoyer's party, which, after ransacking the 
Tuileries, now broke into the hall, determined to sup- 
port the " friends of the people," and to terrify " the 
venal majority." Several of the deputies crowded 
around the duchess to protect her from these intruders. 
No violence, however, was offered ; in fact it was whis- 
pered among the republicans present that too many mon- 
archists were in the hall, and that the republic was be- 



* Lamartine, Revolution, lib. 3. 

28 



326 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

trayed. Marrast ran out exclaiming, " This is only tlie 
sham people ; I am going after the real people." 

Ledru Eollin endeavored to excite anti-monarchical 
and republican sentiments without much success, and 
concluded by calling for a provisional government. 

Members were still irresolute, when Lamartine was 
loudly called for from all quarters of the hall, and re- 
quested to ascend the tribune. Hitherto Lamartine had 
been generally regarded more in the light of a sweet 
poet, a dreaming philosopher, the brilliant advocate of 
glorious but impracticable measures, than a sound poli- 
tician. He had lately, however, written a book, " The 
History of the Girondins," in which he had, as it were, 
deified republicanism, and brought down his wonderful 
genius to the level of the masses. By this he had be- 
come at once extremely popular, but gained little or no 
political power. Now his time was come. Let us take 
a few passages out of his famous speech : — 

" Gentlemen," he began, " I participate as profoundly 
as any man among you in that twofold sentiment which 
has just pervaded this assembly at the sight of one of 
the most touching spectacles which the annals of hu- 
manity can present — that of an august princess sheltering 
herself in her affliction beneath the innocence of her 
children ; who has fled from a deserted and invaded 
palace, and thrown herself into the sanctuary of the 
popular representation. 

" But, gentlemen," he continued, " I have no less a 
lively sense of the respect due to the people. * * * 
I cannot suppose that a momentary acclamation, drawn, 
by an honorable emotion, from an assembly melted to 
tenderness by a natural feeling, can establish a stable 
and undisputed goyernment over a population of thirty- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 327 

six millions. I know that what one burst of popular 
enthusiasm may create, another may destroy. I know 
that, in order to escape the crisis in which we are placed, 
it is of consequence to have, not an ephemeral govern- 
ment, but a stable, a national, a popular, in short, an 
immovable order of things. * * * 

^^Well," he asked, ^Miow are we to arrive at this ? 
How to find this immovable basis ? Sy going to the 
very foundations of the people and the country, hy ex- 
tracting from national rights that great secret of univer- 
sal sovereignty, tvhence issue all order, all liberty, all 
truth. We want a government which may clear up 
the terrible and unsuspected state of things which has 
for years existed between the different classes of our cit- 
izens, and which, by hindering our- settlement and mu- 
tual recognition as a united people, has prevented our 
loving and embracing each other in unaffected harmony. 
* * * I demand, then, that we instantly constitute a 
provisional government." 

He was continually interrupted by the wildest accla- 
mations of approval, and was still speaking when Mar- 
rast returned with his " real people." The bursting 
open and crashing of doors was heard for a moment, 
and then crowds of desperadoes^ blood-and-powder- 
stained, ragged, ferocious, with wild, streaming locks, and 
armed with muskets, forced their way with terrific cries 
lip to the spectators' galleries, whence they looked down 
with ominous countenances on the cowering troops of 
terrified deputies. " Down with the regency ! " they 
shouted; '^ the republic forever! Turn out the cor- 
rupt ! " Their captain, Dunoyer, got up behind the 
speaker's chair, and waved over his head the tricolor flag 
fringed with gold.. «^ This flag," he cried, "demon- 



328 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

strates that here there is no longer any will but ours, 
and outside these walls are a hundred thousand fighting 
men, who will no longer submit to kings or regents." 
It was a scene to terrify the bravest. 

The majority of the scared deputies slip away. The 
Duchess of Orleans escapes, but not without hearing 
savage threats, and after being in serious danger of losing 
her life ; her youngest child is torn from her in the 
crowd, and it is only after two days of intense agony that 
he is restored to her arms. The Duke de Nemours was 
also separated from her in the crowd, but he finally 
managed to join his father in England. 

A fresh body of insurgents now entered the hall, 
their arms reeking with the blood of the Municipal 
Guards, whom they had slain in the Place de la Con- 
corde. Supposing Lamartine an orator hostile to the 
people, they levelled their muskets at him, and were with 
difficulty prevented by others from firing. Some of the 
opposition deputies, who had remained behind, now told 
Lamartine to take the chair, and not to leave it until the 
new government was prepared. With this request he 
refused to comply ; but he had Dupont de I'Eure, now 
eighty years of age, a veteran republican, who had been 
a member of the famous Council of Five Hundred, car- 
ried to the chair, at the sight of whom something like 
order began to prevail. Lists containing names for 
the proposed provisional government were handed to 
Lamartine, who, selecting such as he considered best, 
gave them to the chairman. They were MM. Dupont 
de I'Eure, Lamartine, Arago, Marie, Garnier Pages, 
Ledru Rollin, and Cremieux, each name being ratified 
by volleys of applause. 

Lamartine, now fearing that another administration 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 329 

would be proclaimed by tbe journalists, in the bead 
quarters of tbe revolution at the otber side of tbe river, 
and tbat tbus eacli government might perish by the 
other's hands, resolved to anticipate them, and proposed 
an immediate adjournment to the Hotel de Ville — the 
City Hall, tbe People's Palace. The proposal was ac- 
cepted^ and the crowds, forming themselves into a sort 
of column, started at once for the building. But they 
found a fearful tumult raging within and around it. 

The courts, the avenues, the staircases, the rooms, the 
windows were full of combatants, orators, spectators, 
shouting, crushing, fighting — a living sea, madly heav- 
ing and tossing about beneath the roaring tempest of the 
revolution. In sacb a wild commotion no human lungs 
could make themselves heard. The members of the 
new government were separated in the throng. But 
Flottard, a municipal officer, who knew every corner in 
and around the Hotel de Ville, managed to have them 
all assembled together in a little cabinet well protected 
by a trusty guard. There, seated around a little council 
table, they commenced to organize themselves, and find- 
ing Marrast, Plocon, and Louis Blanc, the celebrated 
socialist writer, too powerful to be excluded from a gov- 
ernment depending altogether for its authority on public 
opinion, at first appointed them secretaries ; but they 
were soon allowed to have deliberative voices, as well as 
the others. 

The fear of night coming on Paris before it had a 
recognized government, and thus exposing such a city 
to the blind fury of three hundred thousand armed men, 
nerved them all to almost supernatural exertions. As 
each new officer received his commission he hurried 
away to execute it. Earnestness and enthusiasm wrought 
28* 



330 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH, 

wonders. The polyteclinic and other students, all in 
arms, forming themselves into an extempore army and 
surrounding the Hotel de Yille, they protected the gov- 
ernment, and conveyed its orders safely to every part of 
the city. Proclamations to the people and to the army, 
rapidly written and signed by well-known and respected 
names, flying like lightning from hand to hand, tran- 
quillized by degrees this wonderful people, who, now 
that the reaction had commenced, began to restore what 
an hour before they had been so eager to demolish. 
The officers of the army, finding that some centre of 
action existed, rapidly sent in their adhesion ; with few 
exceptions they were all retained in their commands, 
and immediately took every means to reestablish order 
and tranquillity. Communications were at once de- 
spatched to the country, apprising France of the issue 
of the contest. The threads of government,. that had 
been so rudely snapped, were being rapidly united to- 
gether. The short February day began with a mon- 
archy, and now ended with a republic. 

The telegraph sending this news through the United 
States took us all by surprise ; but we were hardly more 
astonished than the Parisians found themselves that 
Thursday night, as they read over and over again the 
various proclamations issued by the provisional govern- 
ment. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 331 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Revolution accomplished. — Lamartine. — Bonapartists 
excluded from Office. — An-ival of Louis Napoleon in 
Paris, and his Letter to the Government. — He is ordered to 
quit France in twenty-four Hours. — Jerome's Letter. — 
Louis Napoleon returns to England. — Persigny and his 
Exertions. — Elections. — Bonapartes in the Assembly. — 
Attempted Revolution of the Ibth of 3 fay. — National Work- 
shops. — Louis Napoleon is elected Representative of Paris 
and of three Departments. 

The revolution was accomplishecl. The provisional 
government was acknowledged. The rest soon followed. 
A republic was proclaimed^ subject to the ratification of 
the people by a National Assembly forthwith to be con- 
voked. Order was restored. Little blood was shed. 
In three days thirty-six millions of impassioned minds 
passed without disorder from one form of government 
to another. The scaffold was abolished for political of- 
fences ; prisons were opened only to receive malefactors ; 
the odious red flag was rejected and the tricolor re- 
adopted ; even laws of taxation were readily obeyed by 
a suffering people. 

Such a change is wonderful to think of. Taking every 
thing into consideration — the number of antagonistic 
parties, their violent spirit, the excitable nature of' the 
people, the poverty and destitution of the Parisian pop- 
ulace, who had the power to do every thing any moment 
they chose to exert it — such a fact is unparalleled in 
history. This happy termination of a state of affairs 
that had first looked so frightfully menacing, was due, 
under Heaven, to the prudence, the energy, the courage. 



332 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

and above all, to the sublime eloquence of Lamartine* 
Of this accomplished poet, orator, and statesman, one 
of the most wonderfully endowed of all the great men 
that his country ever produced, we would willingly give 
further notice, did time permit. Of him we can now, 
however, only say, that if, unfortunately, at times he has 
been led astray, through an excessive fondness for ad- 
miration, no one was ever possessed of qualities better 
calculated to excite it. 

All Erance was invited to the elections, which were 
fixed for the 24th of April. The privilege of election 
was declared to belong to all without exception. In the 
words of the proclamation, written by Lamartine, and 
signed by the provisional government, " every French- 
man, having attained the age of manhood, was a polit- 
ical citizen ; every citizen an elector ; every elector a 
sovereign." Young men of twenty -five years of age 
could be representatives. "■ The anticipation of the grand 
installation of the sovereignty of the people appeared 
to appease the minds of the great bulk of the public. 

In the mean time the government had organized itself. 
Lamartine was appointed minister of foreign affairs ; 
Ledru Rollin, of the interior ; • Cremieux, of justice ; 
Arago, of the marine and of war at the same time ; Ma- 
rie, of public works ; Goudchaux, the banker, of finances ; 
Bethmont, of commerce; Carnot, son of the great re- 
publican, of worship and public instruction ; General 
Cavaignac, governor of Algeria ; General Courtais, com- 
mander-in-chief of the National Guard. Every body 
tinctured with Bonapartism, however slightly, seemed 
to be rigidly excluded from office. Still the partisans 
of the empire, the friends of - Louis Napoleon, those 
of his family, and some old followers of the emperor. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 333 

grouped themselves around General Piat. This de- 
voted adherent^ at the first news of the abdication^ had 
run to the Hotel de Yille to defend the rights of the 
imperial family ; but, instead of making himself heard, 
he had been almost torn to pieces by the furious repub- 
licans, vrho dreaded the influence which the great name 
still possessed over the popular mind. 

King Jerome, youngest brother of Napoleon, and his 
son. Prince Napoleon, happened to be in Paris on the 
24th of February; but 'they lived in retirement, pre- 
serving a kind of incognito, through a natural sentiment 
of delicacy towards the fallen government, which had 
authorized their temporary sojourn in France. They 
had, however, entered into consultation with several 
eminent personages, who advised them to keep quiet, 
until at last they had felt their ground and counted up 
their secret auxiliaries. 

JPrince Louis Napoleon, hearing of the abrupt ter- 
mination of Louis Philippe's reign, immediately left 
London, accompanied by Dr. Couneau and a few others 
attached to his fortunes, and arrived in Paris on the 
^Tth, the very day on which the republic was solemnly 
proclaimed on the Place de la Bastile, at the foot of the 
Column of July. On his arrival he immediately found 
himself surrounded by his most devoted friends ; the 
majority of them were the men who had embraced his 
cause at Strasburg and Boulogne, and all of them were 
still ready to shed their last drop of blood for his sake. 
In the company of General Montholon, Persigny, Colo- 
nel Yoisin, and the other companions of his enterprises, 
he almost forgot his previous sufferings. Though he 
saw that they were as devoted as ever, he said nothing 
in their presence of his ulterior projects ; he had an in- 



334 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

terview, however, with his uncle. King Jerome, and his 
cousin, Prince Napoleon, in order to agree on the course 
they should pursue, so as to sustain the Napoleonic 
claims, in the presence of the provisional government of 
the republic. The prince then sent the following letter 
to Lamartine for the provisional government: — 

" Messieurs : The heroic people of Paris having de- 
stroyed the last vestiges of foreign invasion, I hasten 
from my exile to place myself under the banner of the 
republic just proclaimed. 

" With no other ambition than that of serving my 
country, I come to announce my arrival to the members 
of the provisional govei'nment, and to assure them of my 
devotion to the cause which they represent, as well as 
of my sympathy for themselves. 

*^ Accept, Messieurs, the assurance of my Sentiments. 

"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

To this letter the government replied by a formal in- 
junction to the writer to quit Paris within twenty-four 
hours, and the journals contented themselves with an- 
nouncing simply that Louis Napoleon had been ordered 
to depart on the morning after his arrival. But another 
letter, expressing the same thoughts as that of the prince, 
had been sent at the same time to the members of the 
provisional government by King Jerome, who had it 
posted up on all the walls in Paris as soon as he was 
apprised that the government made no opposition to his 
residence in France. Here is that letter, which, eagerly 
read and commented upon by the people, awakened for 
the first time the slumbering echoes of imperialism. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 335 

" Messieurs the Members of the Provisional Gov- 
ernment : The nation has torn to pieces the treaties of 
1815. The old soldier of Waterloo,* the last brother 
of Napoleon^ returns at once to the bosom of the great 
family. 

" The season of the dynasties has passed away for 
France. 

" The proscription law which struck me is fallen with 
the last of the Bourbons. I ask the government of the 
republic to pass a decree declaring my proscription to 
be an insult to France, and to have disappeared with 
every thing else that was imposed on us by foreign power, 

" Jerome Bonaparte. 

" Paris, February 28, 1848." 

The names '^ Napoleon " and " Bonaparte " had alarmed 
the provisional government ; it was in their treatment 
of Louis Napoleon, however, that this was principally 
seen. Some hostile and menacinsj: voices even went so 
far as to demand exceptional measures to be taken 
against the conspirator of Strasburg and Boulogne ; 
they proposed to send him back to Ham, and to keep 
him there in captivity until such time as the republic 
would have acquired stability enough to have nothing to 
dread from a military and Bonapartist attempt at counter 
revolution. But against such an odious abuse of power 
Lamartine pleaded with all his generosity and eloquence ; 
he had little difficulty, however, in convincing his col- 
leagues, that the arrest of the prince, as well as every 
other act of persecution exercised in his regard in the 
name of the republic would be attended by no other 

* Jerome commenced the battle of Waterloo by attacking Hougoumont, 
at the head of the left wing of the French array. 



■^36 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

consequence tlian that of gaining liim new acllierents, 
and reanimating in France tlie old Napoleon fanaticism. 

Still two members of the government declared that, 
out of regard for the public safety, it was expedient to 
secure the person of a pretender who was inevitably the 
born enemy of republican institutions, and that Lamar- 
tine was responsible for whatever consequences might 
arise from this affair of Louis Napoleon. Lamartine, 
yielding to this violence, and fearing lest the prince 
might fall a victim to the concealed power of the secret 
societies, officially acquainted him that his liberty, and 
even his life, were not safe in Paris, where no regular 
authority as yet existed. . 

The prince hesitated what part to take ; some of his 
friends advised him to withdraw to some garrison city, 
and there make head against the popular factions by 
calling around him the true people to the cry of " Vive 
VEmpereur I " But his own good sense soon told him 
that France was at that moment in too grave and perilous 
a position, before the eyes of all Europe, to be able to 
endure a new embarrassment from any appeal of his to 
the people. He resigned himself therefore, easily, to 
the idea of returning to England, and announced his 
departure to the provisional government in the following 
terms : — 

"Messieurs: After thirty-three years of exile and 
persecution, I thought I had acquired the right of finding 
a home on the soil of my country. 

"You deem my presence in Paris at this moment a 
subject of embarrassment. I withdraw then for a time. 
You will see in this sacrifice the purity of my intentions 
and of my patriotism. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 337 

^^ Receive, messieurs, the assurance of my deep sym- 
pathy and esteem. 

"L. N. Bonaparte." 

Before returning to ^England, Louis Napoleon had 
time to prepare a course of action which King Jerome 
and Prince Napoleon engaged to follow. The funda- 
mental act regulating the hereditary succession to the 
imperial throne, by the organic senatus consultum of the 
28th Floreal, year 12, (1804,) was still in force among the 
members of the Bonaparte family. Jerome submitted 
to the wishes of the founder of the dynasty there ex- 
pressed, and readily acknowledged Louis Napoleon's 
claims to be the emperor's successor. It was agreed, 
then, that, without attempting to injure in any respect 
the development and progress of the repubhcan gov- 
ernment, the Bonaparte family should at once actively 
resume the exercise of its civil rights, and should min- 
gle as much as possible in events, in order to attach to 
itself the great popularity that belonged to the name of 
Napoleon. 

Persigny remained in Paris charged with organizing 
in Prance the Napoleon party in the heart of the re- 
public. With the enthusiastic eloquence of this devoted 
friend of the prince, we have already made some ac- 
quaintance, on the occasion of the famous trial resulting 
from the affair of Boulogne. But M. de Persigny pos- 
sessed other qualities besides eloquence to render him a 
most efficient organizer. He had that tenacity and per- 
severance that are indispensable in arranging matters in 
times of difficulty. He possessed the art of establishing 
relations of sympathy and interest between men of the 
same opinion ; he found in the ardor of his political 
^9 



388 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

convictions an irresistible power of attraction and per- 
suasion; lie concealed under an impassive exterior, and 
under forms coldly polite, the energy, resolution, and 
courage wliicli he had employed exclusively in forward- 
ing the cause to which he had been devoted for the last 
sixteen years ; he united audacity with prudence, sub- 
tlety with frankness ; in fine, — and this gave him his 
greatest strength, — he had unshaken confidence in the 
destinies of Prince Louis Napoleon. 

It was Persigny, then, that became the soul of the 
party, during those difficult moments v/hen France, ap- 
parently republicanized in spite of herself, by Ledru 
Rollin's government commissioners, — - sent forth by this 
minister of the interior to take the place of the prefects 
and sub-prefects of the monarchy, — - saw herself envel- 
oped in the immense net spread by anarchical clubs and 
the secret societies. In the midst of them all, Persigny, 
in concert with the prince's friends, and especially with 
the most intelligent of his companions of the enterprises 
of Strasburg and Boulogne, secretly founded a Napoleon 
committee, which soon extended its ramifications through 
every department in France. It had its centre in Paris, 
and from this single centre, which v/as subject to the 
direction of Louis Napoleon, proceeded, incessantly, 
devoted agents, who went from province to province, 
preparing the country for the return of the imperial 
family, and trying to arouse the Napoleonic Idea, 

It does not seem to have been the intention of this 
committee to prepare an insurrection against the repub- 
lic, or to encourage resistance to its authority ; its object 
appears to have been to spread, multiply, organize, and 
finally to collect and bring to a focus, the strength of the 
Bonapartist opinion throughout the country. This opin- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 339 

ion soon had an organ, whicli was not the less useful for 
not being avowed. The journal entitled La Liberte, 
having a daily circulation of more than a hundred thou- 
sand copies, dared sometimes to speak of the empire, 
and to sound the great name of Napoleon, at a time 
when the vast field of the periodical press was furrowed 
in all directions by the sharp pens of democracy, dema- 
goguism and socialism. 

As long as the disorderly reign of incendiary journals, 
of delirious clubs, of national workshops, of social war 
in theory, and sometimes in practice tpo, lasted, — as long 
as the provisional government had to defend itself and 
the infant republic against the intrigues, the plots, and 
the furious attacks of the socialist democratic parties, 
the Napoleon party gave no sign of its existence, and 
carefully avoided furnishing republican absolutism with 
any new grounds for irritation, suspicion, or injustice. 

The Bonapartists wished to manifest themselves at the 
elections, and the time at last came when the country 
was called upon to appoint representatives for the Na- 
tional Assembly. 

Immediately the department of Corsica remembering 
that it had given Napoleon to France, the name Napo- 
leon presented itself at once to the choice of the elect- 
ors. The candidacy of the Princes Louis Napoleon, 
Pierre, (Lucien's son,) and Napoleon Bonaparte, was 
joyfully hailed by the whole population. But Louis 
Napoleon would not accept the intended honor, and he 
announced to the electors that it was his decided resolu- 
tion to remain apart from political life until France would 
have solemnly abrogated the decrees by which his family 
was proscribed. On the contrary, Pierre and Napoleon 
eagerly accepted the offer made to them by the em- 



340 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

peror's native country ; tliey announced their intention 
to repair immediately to Corsica^ accompanied by King 
Jerome, to take their part in the elections. 

The city of Ajaccio gave them a magnificent reception. 
^* Never since the landing of the commander-in-chief 
of the army of Egypt/' appeared in a letter dated the 
13th of April, ^'have we seen anything approaching 
the enthusiasm, the tumultuous joy of our population, 
and the smiling, animated aspect of our city. Ajaccio, 
proud of having given birth to the emperor, will re- 
ceive our illustrious guests under a long avenue of tri- 
umphal arches, decorated with national emblems and 
allegorical inscriptions." 

The two princes were unanimously elected, and one 
of their cousins. Prince Lucien Murat, son of their aunt 
Caroline, was elected at the same time in the department 
of Lot. 

On the 4th of May, 1848, when the Constituent As- 
sembly met for the first time, the power of the provis- 
ional government came to an end, and an executive 
committee of five was appointed by ballot, to exercise 
the intermediate authority until the definitive establish- 
ment of the constitutional power. Arago received the 
greatest number of votes, Garnier Pages the next, Marie 
was third, Lamartine the fourth, and Ledru E-ollin the 
fifth. Many were surprised at this unexpected proof 
of Lamartine's declining popularity. But in trying to 
maintain the good opinion of both Bourgeois and Social- 
ist he had satisfied neither. He had become too great 
a friend of Ledru PoUin to please the provinces, and 
his bold rejection of the red flag had mortally ofiended 
the extreme parties in the capital. His connection with 
Ledru Pollin was much blamed at the time. But it is 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 341 

probable tbat^ fully acquainted with Eollin's vast influ- 
ence over the secret societies, and also well knowing the 
extreme violence of the man when aroused, he had adopt- 
ed the plan of conciliating him by friendliness, rather 
than of infuriating him by hostility. Under the circum- 
stances this may have been the more prudent way ; but 
it was misunderstood. Buchez was named first president 
of the Assembly. 

In this body the three Bonapartes took their seats as 
representatives of the people, the proscription laws of 
1816 and 1832 notwithstanding. The silent acquies- 
cence of the Assembly, generally, in this proceeding, so 
encouraged the party, that on the 27th of May, Pietri, 
a Corsican deputy, handed up a petition signed by twen- 
ty members, demanding that the laws prescribing the 
banishment of the Bonaparte family should be repealed. 
The signers of this petition, however, were not all Napo- 
leonists ; in fact, it was apparently only a bold reply to the 
violent expressions made use of by Yignerte, one of the 
most exclusive republicans of the Assembly. '^ The Bo- 
napartes," said this deputy, " are here only provisionally,'' 

^' Provisionally ! " exclaimed Prince Napoleon ; '^ what 
does the gentleman mean by provisionally ? There is 
no provisionality for a French citizen. I am a French 
citizen as well as M. Vignerte himself, and with the 
same title. It is surprising, to say the least of it, that 
a member of this Assembly should permit himself to 
speak of one of his colleagues taking his seat in this 
hall provisionally." 

This angry discussion was brought about, perhaps, by* 
the exasperation into which men's minds had been 
thrown by the attempt to upset the government, made 
by the street agitations on the 15th. Of this violation 
29* 



842 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

of popular sovereignty we liave not space to give the 
details. Besides^ we have all read in the papers how^ 
under the pretext of a manifestation in favor of Poland, 
fifteen thousand men, led by the chiefs of the clubs, 
marched from the Place de la Bastile to the Place de la 
Concorde ; how the liberty of the national representa- 
tion not being efficiently protected by the inadequate 
armed force present for the purpose, the Assembly was 
invaded, and E-aspail mounted the tribune to read the 
petition ; how he was followed in succession by Blan- 
qui, Barbes, and at last by Huber, who, in the midst of 
the frightful uproar caused by the insurgents, and in 
presence of the National Assembly, which all through 
maintained a motionless and dignified silence, pro- 
nounced, on his own authority, the dissolution of the 
national representation. We do not forget the adjourn- 
ment of the triumphant revolutionists to the Hotel de 
Ville, the decrees passed there regarding the outlawry 
of the National Guard, and the levy of a tax of one 
thousand million francs on the rich. Finally, we remem- 
ber how their success was of only two hours' duration, 
and how many of the leaders were taken prisoners, and 
the rest dispersed by the National Guards without firing 
a shot. With this presumptuous emeute, however, the 
Napoleon party had had nothing to do. 

From similar continual disturbances it followed, as 
a matter of course, that public confidence had become 
almost ruined. Capitalists concealed their treasure. 
Merchandise, property of all kinds, rapidly depreciated. 
Half of the stores were closed ; employers, finding no 
sale for their goods, dismissed their hands, and a hun- 
dred thousand workmen, without meaUs of support, 
roamed around the streets of Paris, willingly giving ear 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 343 

to aay promise, and ready to join in any disturbance. 
To remedy such a state of things, the system of Na- 
tional WorTcshops had been devised. But whatever 
may be said of such a system in the abstract, and under 
other circumstances, here it certainly produced the worst 
consequences. It swallowed up millions in supporting 
men at useless work, or rather no work at all ; it dis- 
couraged the industrious by holding out a premium to 
idlers ; it habituated the talkers and the indolent to think 
that they possessed a gratuitous claim on the nation for 
their maintenance, attracting many laborers from the 
provinces into the capital ; it led the way to the tremen- 
dous battle of June ; and, worst of all, by the enormous 
tax required to support it, it effectually disgusted the 
great majority of the French people, quiet, silent, but 
thoughtful, with the very name of republicanism. 

Several voids had been left in the Assembly by double 
or informal elections, which it now became necessary to 
fill up. The time appointed for this purpose was June 
S. Offers were again made to Louis Napoleon, but he 
declared that he would not accept them. To return to 
France, even as representative, he waited, he said, 
until his presence in his native land should not be made 
a pretext for disturbances and annoyances from the gov- 
ernment. But in spite of these explicit refusals, his 
name was put on the electoral lists, and he was returned 
as the representative of four departments at once. That 
of Seine was of this number, and in the city of Paris, 
though his name was mentioned only the evening pre- 
vious to the election, he received 84,420 votes. 

Every attempt had been made by the government, 
and by the secret societies, to repress this sudden Bona- 
parte excitement. His friends' proclamations had been 



344 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

torn down, votes in his favor had been declared void^ 
ignorant and credulous electors had been deceived in 
every possible way, and still the result was his election 
by four departments, Seine, Yonne, Charente-Inferieure, 
and Corsica. 

The star of Louis Napoleon at last began to make its 
appearance above the horizon. 



CHAPTEE XXY. 

Causes of the sudden Bonapartist Enthusiasm. — 111 Will of 
the Executive Commission. — Meetings on the Boulevards^ 
— Alarm in the Assembly. — Project of Proscription against 
Louis Napoleon. — Letters from the Prince. — - His Election' 
sanctioned. — Letter ofthanhs to his Electors. — Proclama- 
tion of the Prefect, M. Marc Bufraisse. 

To swell this sudden current of the prince's popu- 
larity much had contributed. Lithographs, medals, and 
busts, sold by thousands, notwithstanding all the efforts 
of the police to put a stop to such propagandism, ren- 
dered his features known every where, whilst biographi- 
cal pamphlets, placards, and newspapers, related the 
interesting story of his life, from his birth, surrounded 
with all the splendors of the imperial dynasty, to the 
termination of his long and wearisome captivity in the 
fortress of Ham. The recollection of his mother. Queen 
Hortense, and especially of his grandmother, the good 
Josephine, still remained pure and grateful in the hearts 
of the people. Then the glorious legend of his uncle, 
the emperor, threw a kind of sacred halo around his 
head in the eyes of France, and even his own adven- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IH. 345 

tures at Strasburg and Boulogne were found to have 
something chivahous and romantic about them. Pa- 
triotic songs^ full of imperial allusions, circulated in the 
salons ; these were caught up by the people, and heartily 
chanted as often as the vigilance of the police left them 
the opportunity.* 

* Of these songs, '* L'Aigle Prisonnier " (the Captive Eagle) perhaps 
made the most noise at the time. It was written by Paul Lacroix, (Biblio- 
phile Jacob,) on the occasion of Louis Napoleon's escape from Ham. This 
writer has since written a life of the prince, which, though exceeding par- 
tial, is very full, and supplies us with many of our facts. 

The song, though of little literary merit, and by no means clear in its 
allusions, applying, as they do, sometimes to Louis Napoleon, sometimes 
to the eagle of France, still, like most political songs, answered its purpose 
pretty well. The following is a somewhat literal translation of our own : — 

"THE. CAPTIVE EAGLE. 

*' From his eyry a daring young eagle would spring, 

In the regions of brightness to dwell, 
But, assailed with red lightnings, and shattered his wing, 

In a marsh, bruised and gasping, he fell ; 
Still proudly he glanced at the azure-hued dome 

Of his loved native country, the sky. 
O, gallant young eagle, though far from thy home. 

In freedom, at least, thou shalt die ! 

" But a cunning old sportsman, who passed by the way 

"With his nets, seeking prey to decoy. 
Saw the bird, where exhausted and bleeding he lay. 

And the cheaply-won prize seized with joy. 
In a cage he confined him — O, barbarous deed ! 

With passive, though proud-gleaming eye, 
Ah, captive young eagle, thy doom is decreed ; 

Now take thy last look at the sky ! , 

" But no ; for though vexed and oppressed in his cage, 

Hopes of freedom he never resigns ; 
The sun's genial rays soothe his wounds and his rage. 

And new glorious flights he designs ; 
At last with strong beak the vile bars he tears down. 

He is free ! see him wheeling on high ! 
6oar again, noble eagle of deathless renown, 

In thy own native region, the sky." 



34G LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

But tlie executive commission had come to the reso- 
lution to exclude Louis Napoleon from the National 
Assembly. Orders were sent to the ministers of the in- 
tet'ior and of war to transmit immediately to the proper 
officers throughout the country a description of the 
prince's person, with an injunction to have him arrested 
as soon as he made his appearance on French territory. 
It was also resolved to lay three questions before the 
Assembly : 1. Is the citizen Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 
a Frenchman ? 2. Is Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 
a pretender ? 3. Had the people a right to elect a man 
who is not a French citizen, and a prince who pretends, 
under the republic, to the imperial crown ? It was ex- 
pected that Louis Napoleon, in consequence of having 
formerly accepted the title of citizen of Thurgau, could 
be proved to have renounced his French nationality ; it 
was also hoped that from his attempts at Strasburg and 
Boulogne he could be easily pronounced an imperial pre- 
tender ; and, these two points decided in the affirmative, 
it was determined without hesitation to annul the vote 
of the people. 

From the beginning of June great crowds had been 
in the habit of collecting every evening on the Boule- 
vards, between Porte St. Martin and Porte St. Denis. 
Much agitation pervaded these assemblies, and they 
criticised pretty sharply, and in no low key, every new 
measure of the government. The threatened dissolu- 
tion of the national workshops was the favorite theme 
of the orators, though arguments in favor of Louis Na- 
poleon's election were often hailed with loud acclama- 
tions. It is said that Bonapartist agents often addressed 
these crowds. Perhaps they did ; but it is not the less 
certain that these assemblies consisted almost altogether 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 347 

of red republicans, tlie sworn foes alike of Bonapartism 
and of moderate republicanism. Every evening they 
increased in numbers, and collected at an earlier hour. 
Trouble was anticipated, and General Piat, the friend 
of Louis Napoleon, desirous to exonerate his party from 
all blame in the result, had a notice affixed to the walls 
of Paris on the 11th of June, from which the following 
is an extract : " Insidious ringleaders are sowing agi- 
tation around us ; they cover their projects with the 
name of our fellow-citizen, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 
a name that repels disorder and anarchy. Avoid the 
snares laid for you ; calmly await the sovereign decision 
of the National Assembly ; it is enemies alone that 
can impel you to reprehensible demonstrations. Believe 
me, these would be strongly reprobated by our new 
representative, to whom the republic has just restored a 
country." 

Next day greater crowds than ever assembled in the 
morning. They were dispersed; but in the afternoon 
they collected again, and this time more especially on 
the Place de la Concorde, not far from the Corps Legis- 
latifj within which the National Assembly was in ses- 
sion. Lamartine was speaking there at the time, but 
the increasing noise of drums and shouting rendered the 
representatives inattentive to his observations. 

Suddenly a member dashes into the hall; he is at 
once surrounded, and eagerly questioned. " Bonapartist 
rioters " he exclaims, " are assembled on the Place de 
la Concorde ; a musket shot has been fired at Clement- 
Thomas, the commander of the National Guards." He 
was continuing his account when Lamartine, still in the 
tribune, interrupted him, changed the subject of his own 
discourse, and thus addressed the Assembly : — 



348 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^ Citizens, a fatal occurrence has caused me to pause 
in my discourse. Whilst I was speaking of the resto- 
ration of order, and of the guarantees we are all disposed 
to offer for the consolidation of the government, a musket 
shot, several musket shots, it is said, have been fired. 
One was aimed at the commander of the National Guard, 
another at one of the brave officers of the army, and a 
third has struck, it is alleged, an officer of the National 
Guard. These shots were fired amidst cries of Vive 
rEmpereur ! Gentlemen, this is the first drop of blood 
which has stained the pure and glorious revolution of 
the 24th of February. To the honor of the populace, 
the honor of the different parts of the republic, this blood, 
at least, has not been shed by their hands. Neither has 
it flowed in the name of Liberty, but in the name of the 
fanaticism of military recollections, and of an opinion 
naturally, though perhaps involuntarily, hostile to every 
republic. 

" Citizens, whilst deploring with you the misfortune 
which has just occurred, the government has taken the 
precaution of standing prepared— as far at least as it 
can stand prepared — against events of this nature. This 
very morning, only an hour before we assembled here, 
we unanimously signed a declaration, which we proposed 
to read to you at the close of the sitting, but which the 
circumstance that has just transpired forces me to read 
to you immediately. When insolent faction is taken in 
the very act of turpitude, when it is detected with its 
hands imbrued in French blood, the law must be en- 
forced with common accord. [Applause.] 

"The declaration I am about to have the honor to 
read to the Assembly," pursued Lamartine, drawing a 
document from his bosom, " has reference only to the 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 349 

execution of an existing law. But this declaration is 
necessary for legalizing the authority which may be 
called into execution to-morrow. It is indispensable, as 
a preparation for deliberating on another proposition re- 
ferring to the same subject, and which must be discussed 
to-morrow or the day after ; it is necessary, moreover, 
that the National Assembly should know the intentions 
of the executive commission with regard to Charles 
Louis Bonaparte. Here then is the substance of the de- 
cree which we propose to you : — 

" ^ The Commission of the Executive Authority, 
bearing in view Article III. of the loth of January, 1816, 
and the Articles XII. and VI. of the law of the 16th of 
April, 1832, — 

" ' Considering that Charles Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte is comprehended in the law of 1832, which exiles 
from the French territory the members of the Bonaparte 
family ; — 

" ' Considering that though there have been, in fact, 
exceptions to this law by the vote of the National Assem- 
bly, which has admitted the members of that family to 
form part of the Assembly, yet those exceptions were 
merely individual, and did not extend either by right 
or in fact to other members of the same family ; — 

" ' Considering that France desires to found the re- 
publican government in peace and order, without being 
disturbed in her task by dynastic pretensions and am- 
bitions of a nature to create parties and factions in the 
state, and consequently to foment civil war, however 
undesignedly ; — 

" ' Considering that Charles Louis Bonaparte has twice 
placed himself in the position of a pretender, by attempt- 
30 



350 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

ing to establisli a mock republic, in virtue of tlie senatus 
consultum of the year 13 ; — 

" ^ Considering that agitations injurious to the popular 
republic which we desire to found, and calculated to 
compromise the safety of institutions, and to disturb the 
public peace, have already taken place in the name of 
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ; — 

'' ' Considering that these agitations, which are symp- 
tomatic of culpable intrigues, might be an obstacle to 
the pacific establishment of the republic, if encouraged 
by negligence or weakness on the part of the govern- 
ment ; — 

^^ ' Considering that the government cannot make itself 
responsible for the danger to which republican institu- 
tions, as well as the public peace, would be exposed, if 
it were wanting in its first duty, by failing to execute 
an existing law, justified more than ever in unsettled 
times, by reasons of state, and for seconding the public 
welfare, — 

" '^ Declares — That it will enforce, as far as concerns 
Louis Bonaparte, the law of 1832, until such time as the 
National Assembly shall otherwise decide.' " 

Here the assembly rose, all uttering cries of " Vive 
la Republique ! " with the exception of General Larabit, 
the Bonapartes, and a few other members of the repre- 
sentative body. 

After a few more observations from Lamartine, the 
Assembly by its acclamations generally expressed its 
approbation of the energetic determination of the govern- 
ment. 

The representatives, however, on returning home after 
this stormy sitting, were surprised to find that the hostile 
groups had nearly all vanished, and that the public tran- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 351 

quillity seemed to have been little, if at all, troubled. 
They were still more surprised that the musket shots 
fired at the commander of the National Guard, and at 
the brave officers, had dwindled dov/n to a mere pistol 
shot, which, as Clement-Thomas himself next day de- 
clared in the tribune, had gone off, perhaps, by g,ccident. 

This did not augur well for the discussion that was to 
take place on the same day, the loth of June, when the 
Assembly was called upon to pronounce upon the validity 
of the elections, so favorable to Louis Napoleon. Many 
orators opposed his admission. Ledru Rollin com- 
bated it violently, though he asserted, strangely enough, 
that " the republic feared nobody." M. Buchez, another 
orator on the same side, exclaimed, with, still greater 
simplicity, "Has not Louis Napoleon played the pre- 
tender twice at Boulogne and Strasburg ? Well, if you 
admit him here, he will come in attended with the popu- 
lar acclamation, v/hich will render him more and more 
powerful every day." 

M. Vieillard, whose name we have met already, stood 
up for his friend ; he repelled the calumnies of the press 
and the tribune. " Do you want to know the senti- 
ments that animated him before his election ? " he asked. 
" If you do, listen to a letter he wrote to me last month, 
but which was never intended for publicity." 

^' No, no ! " cried the Left. " We don't want to hear 
any prince's letters ! " 

But curiosity partly overcoming ill will, Vieillard 
read the following letter in comparative silence : — 

" London, 3Iaij 11, 1848. 

" My dear M. Vieillard : I have not yet answered 
the letter which you addressed me from St. Lo, because 



352 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

I was waiting your return to Paris, when I would have 
an opportunity to explain my conduct. 

" I was not desirous to present myself as candidate at 
the elections, because I am convinced my position in the 
Assembly would have been extremely embarrassing. 
My name, my antecedents, have made of me, willing or 
unwilling, not a party chief, but a man upon whom the 
eyes of all malcontents are fixed. As long as French 
society shall remain unsettled, as long as the constitution 
shall remain undecided, I feel that my position in France 
will be to me extremely difficult, wearisome, and even 
dangerous. 

" I have then taken the firm resolution of keeping 
myself apart, and of resisting all the charms a residence 
in my own country should possess. 

" If France needed me ; if my part were marked out , 
if, in short, I thought I could be useful to my country, 
— I would not hesitate to fiing aside these secondary con- 
siderations, and to fulfil my duty. But, in the present 
circumstances, I can do no good ; at most, I should only 
be in the way. 

"' On the other hand, I have important personal in- 
terests to attend to in England ; 1 shall wait here a 
few months longer then, until affairs in France assume 
a calmer and more decided aspect. 

" I do not know but that you will blame me for 
this resolution ; but, if you had an idea of the number 
of ridiculous propositions that reach me even here, you 
would easily understand how much more I should be a 
butt in Paris for all sorts of intrigues. 

*^ I do not want to meddle in any thing ; I desire to 
see the republic become strong in wisdom and in rights. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 353 

andj in the mean time, I find voluntary exile very agree- 
able, because I know it is voluntary. 
" Receive, &c. 

"L. N. Bonaparte." 

Tbe reading of ^tbis letter was freq^uently interrupted 
with Hisses and outcries. 

M. Bonjean, another of the prince's friends, one of 
the most distinguished members of the Parisian bar, in 
his turn opposed the government measure. Alluding 
to MM. Buchez and Ledru Rollin, ^^ These gentlemen," 
said he, " speaking of Louis Bonaparte and his inten- 
tions, have observed that he had never expressed his 
adhesion to the republic. M. Ledru Kollin has, more- 
over, stated, ' For some time rumor has been accusing 
Louis Bonaparte of being concerned in the disturbances 
that are taking place in the streets ; many in his name 
have denied his connection with these disorders ; him- 
self alone has not denied it.' I reply to this second im- 
putation, it is true that Louis Napoleon has not person- 
ally protested against the reports of the last few days, 
but it is simply because he has not had time to do so. 
As to the first accusation, here is the letter that the 
prince has just sent to the National Assembly itself." 
Hereupon he read the following letter, which had been 
received by the president the previous evening, and had 
appeared the same morning in the Parisian journals : — 

^^ Citizen Representatives : I learn, by the news- 
papers, that it has been proposed in the National Assem- 
bly to maintain against me alone the law of exile which 
has been in force against my family since the year 1816 • 
30* 



354 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

I now apply to tlie representatives of tlie people for in- 
formation why I have deserved such a penalty. 

^* Can it be for having always publicly declared that, 
in my opinion, France was not the property either of an 
individual, or of a family, or of a party ? 

" Can it be because, desiring to accomplish the tri- 
umph, without anarchy or license, of the principles of 
national sovereignty, which alone can put an end to our 
dissensions, I have been twice the victim of my hostility 
to a government which you have overthrown ? 

'' Can it be for having consented, out of deference to 
the wish of the provisional government, to return to a 
foreign country after having hastened to Paris upon the 
first report of the revolution ? 

" Can it be for having disinterestedly refused those 
nominations for the Assembly which were proffered to me, 
being resolved not to return to France until the new 
constitution should be agreed upon and the republic 
firmly established ? 

" The same reasons which have made me take up arms 
against the government of Louis Philippe, would induce 
me, were my services required, to devote myself to the 
defence of the Assembly — the result of universal suffrage. 

" In presence of a king elected by two hundred depu- 
ties, I might have recollected that I was heir to an 
empire founded by the consent of four millions of 
Frenchmen. 

" In the presence of the national sovereignty I neither 
can nor will claim more than my rights as a French 
citizen ; but these I will demand incessantly, and with 
the energy imparted to an honest heart by the conscious- 
ness of never having done any thing to render it unworthy 
of its country. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 355 

^' Eeceive^ gentlemen, the assurance of my sentiments 
of liigh esteem. 

" Your fellow-citizen, 

"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

This declaration of principles, so clear, so patriotic, so 
full of respect for the national sovereignty, and withal 
so firm, had its effect on the National Assembly, and, 
though not without murmurs, the election of the citizen 
Louis Napoleon was declared valid. The executive 
commission was defeated — so far — though they had 
been so confident of victory that the previous day the 
following despatch had been sent through all parts of 
the country : — 

" Paris, June 13th, 1848. 

'^ The Minister of the Interior : By order of the 
commision of executive power, cause the arrest of Charles 
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte if he is signalled in your 
locality. 

" Transmit the necessary orders in all directions." 

This was acting somewhat prematurely. 

The journals of the following day published his letter 
of thanks to the electors of Seine, Yonne, Sarthe, and 
Charente Inferieure. He had not yet heard of his elec- 
tion in Corsica. 

*' Citizens : Your votes fill me with gratitude. This 
mark of. sympathy, the more flattering as I had not so- 
licited it, comes to find me regretting my inactivity at a 
time when our country has need of the united efforts of 
all her children to extricate her from her difiicult position. 



356 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

"Your confidence imposes duties upon me wliich I 
sliall know how to fulfil ; our interests^ our sentiments^ 
our wishes are the same. A Parisian by birth, now a 
representative of the people, I shall unite my efforts to 
those of my colleagues to reestablish order, credit, in- 
dustry, to assure external peace, to consolidate democratic 
institutions, to conciliate interests which are seemingly 
hostile, because they are mutually suspicious and clash 
against each other, instead of marching together towards 
one common goal, the prosperity and greatness of the 
country. 

" The people are free since the S4th of February ; they 
can now obtain every thing without having recourse to 
brutal violence. 

'^ Let us rally then around the altar of our country, 
under the fiag of the republic, and let us present to the 
world the grand spectacle of a people regenerating itself 
without fury, without civil war, without anarchy. 

^^Eeceive, dear fellow-citizens, the assurance of my 
devotion and of my sympathies. 

'^ Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. 

"London, June II, 1848." 

The prince was now nominally a French citizen ; but 
before he could make his appearance in France, another 
and a fiercer attack was to be made on him in the assem- 
bly, and his mortal foes, the red republicans, were to 
come near establishing a new reign of terror. 

In the mean time, to close the chapter, we shall give 
our readers an idea of the feelings entertained by these 
red republicans towards Louis Napoleon, by presenting 
them with an extract taken from a proclamation with 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 357 

wMcli M. Marc Dufraisse, prefect appointed by Ledru 
Bollin over the department of Indre^, had thought proper 
to accompany the despatch ah'eady given, 

" Citizens : Twice — at Strasburg and Boulogne — = 
has the mad ambition of a pretender attempted to pre- 
cipitate France into a civil war. * * * Impunity in 
the first instance, and then weakness, emboldened the 
vulgar heart of this witless conspirator. The signal 
honor just decreed him by the votes of a few misled, 
perhaps guilty men^ has awakened his thoughts of usur- 
pation, has revived his criminal and shameless hopes. 
Your crushing legitimate indignation will teach Charles 
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte that the French people, mag- 
nanimous to pardon, even to forget,. crimes worthy of the 
most severe punishment, will never resign themselves to 
the reconstruction of a throne, whatever may be the name 
of the audacious, imprudent individual that aspires to 
ascend it. The young republic does not fear the 18th 
Brumaire of the year VII.* 

" Should the fugitive fall into your patriotic hands, 
bring him at once before your republican magistrates, 
and dehver him without pity to the justice of the revo- 
lution- Health and fraternities. 

'' The Prefect of the Eepublic, 

"Marc Dufraisse." 

* November* 9, 1799 — the date of Napoleon's famous coup d*itat. 



358 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTEH XXYI. 

Famous Letter from the Prince to the Assembly. — General 
Gavaignac and the Word " Republic" — Thourefs Proposal, 
- — I^ew Letter from, the Prince. — The sanguinary Days 
of June and their Causes. — General Gavaignac appointed 
Dictator ; overcomes the Insurgents. — Louis Napoleon^s 
Letter to General Plat. — His Return to Paris, and First 
Appearance in the Assembly. — Discussions on the Gonsti- 
tution. — > New Attach, and the Prince'' s Reply, — Singular 
Scene in the Assembly. 

Next day, June 14, tlie reading of the following let- 
ter in the Assembly was the signal for a new attack : — 

" London, Jum 11, 1848." 

^^ Monsieur le President : I was setting out for my 
post when I learned that my election was made the 
pretext for deplorable troubles and fatal mistakes. I 
have not sought the honor of being a representative 
of the people, because I was aware of the injurious 
suspicions which rested upon me ; much less did I seek 
the power. If the people impose duties upon me, I 
shall know how to fulfil them. 

" But I disavow all the ambitious designs that some 
attribute to me. My name is a symbol of order, of 
nationality, of glory, and it would be with the liveliest 
grief that I should see it subservient to national disor- 
ders. To avoid such a misfortune I prefer to remain in 
exile. I am ready to sacrifice every thing for the hap- 
piness of France. 

*^ Have the goodness, Mr. President, to communicate 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 359 

this letter to the Assembly. I enclose you a copy of 
my letter of thanks to the electors. 
^' Receive, &c. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

This letter was heard with profound silence. After a 
few moments Cavaignac spoke. The general was repre- 
sentative for the department of Lot, and had been 
lately appointed minister of war. 

" Citizen Representatives ! " he exclaimed, in solemn 
tones ; ^^ we were told a few days ago, by a member of 
the government, that one man alone ever studiously main- 
tained silence respecting the republic. This silence has 
been broken. The thoughts that crowd upon me, at the 
present moment, do not permit me to express myself as 
I could wish ; but the first thing that strikes me about 
this letter is, that it does not once contain the word 
republic.^' 

A frightful tumult ensues. Loud cries call for the 
outlawry of the pretender that dared to write to the 
Assembly without speaking of the republic. Others 
call attention to the phrase, " If people impose duties 
upon me, I shall know how to fulfil them." " What is 
this," cried Thouret, " but an appeal to revolt ? treason 
to the French republic ? I move that it be instantly 
decreed that Louis Bonaparte is a traitor to the coun- 
try!" 

'* Yes, yes ! " exclaimed the republicans of all shades. 
The executive commission wished to press the motion, 
confident of its being immediately carried. Louis Na- 
poleon's friends, though unable to withstand the torrent, 
and believing all was lost, still loudly called for a more 
dignified examination of the matter, and vehemently 



360 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

endeavored to defer tlie decision till next day. " Settle 
it to-morrow ! " tliey exclaimed. 

*' To-morrow ? " cried Clement-Thomas, the self-con- 
stituted orator of the executive commission ; ^^ no ! 
this discussion must be pursued and brought to an 
end to-day. If the information I have lately re- 
ceived be correct, it is a battle that you shall have 
to-morrow ! " 

But the word " battle " suggested a new topic of in- 
terest. It distracted the attention of the representatives. 
He was not believed, and soon was hardly listened to. 
^' I repeat it," f esumed the commander-in-chief of the 
National Guard of Paris. "You have no alternative. 
The discussion to-day, or a battle to-morrow. For 
which are you prepared ? Come, declare at least that 
every citizen, daring to take up arms to sustain the cause 
of a despot, is a traitor to his country." But the As- 
sembly decided nothing, and deferred the discussion to 
the next day. 

On the next day, however, just as the discussion was 
on the point of being resumed with all its fury and 
disorder, the prince's secretary, M. Briffaut, arrived from 
London, and put into the hands of the president of the 
Assembly the following letter, which at once set hostile 
projects at rest : — 

" London^ June 15, 1848. 

" Monsieur le President : 1 was proud of having 
been elected representative at Paris, and in three other 
departments. This was, in my eyes, an ample repara- 
tion for thirty years of exile and six years of captivity. 
But the injurious suspicions arising from my election, 
the disorders of which it has been made the pretext, 
and the hostility of the executive power, impose it on 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 361 

me as a duty to refuse an honor that is supposed to have 
been obtained by intrigue. 

'^ I desire the order and permanence of a wise, great, 
and intelligent republic ; and since, though involunta- 
rily, I favor disorder, I now place, not without extreme 
regret, my resignation in your hands. 

" I hope, however, tranquillity will soon prevail, and 
permit me to reenter France as the simplest of her citi- 
zens, and also as one most devoted to her repose and 
happiness, 

"Receive, &c. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

The battle promised by M. Clement-Thomas did not 
take place on the day appointed ; it was, however, only 
adjourned. It commenced, as we all know, on the 2od 
of June, with all the horrors of civil war. Who the 
leaders were, what were the immediate causes and pre- 
cise objects of this insurrection, the most murderous that 
ever stained with blood the streets of the French capital, 
is still shrouded in mystery, and will probably always 
remain so. It is not wise to investigate some matters 
too closely. All we know is, that the movement was 
indicated long beforehand, though when it came the 
government did not seem prepared to suppress it. Per- 
haps it was brought on by the weakness and disunion 
of the government. The facts not admitting a doubt 
are, that two parties, equally opposed and irreconcilable, 
conspired against each other, in the very bosom of the 
executive commission ; the revolutionary party desired 
the creation of a committee of public safety, supported 
by the clubs and the secret societies ; the republican par- 
ty, a dictatorship supported by the regular army and the 
31 



362 LIFE or NAPOLEON III. 

National Guard. Then tlie executive commission had 
winked at the disorderly state of things^ which had been, 
perhaps necessarily, tolerated by the provisional govern- 
ment. During May and June the demagogical clubs 
had remained open, as in March and April, where the 
most subversive doctrines were continually preached. 
Paris teemed with journals filled with the most scandal- 
ous articles. The National Guard had become remiss, 
and of the two was rather inclined to " fraternize." 
Finally, the report of the dissolution of the national 
workshops read in the Assembly on the 23d gave the sig- 
nal for an insurrection, which was only waiting for 
something of the kind to come to an issue. 

On the 24th the executive commission, amidst the 
roar of cannon and rattle of musketry, resigned its 
power, in obedience to the wish of the Assembly, which 
immediately appointed General Cavaignac dictator, in- 
vesting him with full civil and military authority. The 
general took his measures wisely. " It is not a riot that 
we have to suppress," said he ; " we have to fight a bat- 
tle ; and not one battle only, but to go through a campaign 
against these formidable factions." The battle was a 
horrible one ; it lasted three days and three nights ; it 
had more than ten thousand victims, among whom were 
many representatives, several generals, and the good 
Archbishop of Paris. 

"We shall not undertake to give any details of this 
dreadful struggle, made by more than two hundred 
thousand men, in the name of the " Democratic and So- 
cial Republic : " it is enough to say that the insurgents, 
organized and marshalled with great skill, fought with 
extraordinary fanaticism, and came within an ace of over- 
throwing all order, society, and civilization in France, 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 363 

perhaps througliout all Europe^ for many a year. It is 
almost needless to add, that though active investigations 
were set on foot, and bitter debates. ensued in the Assem- 
bly, when all was over, no Bonapartist influence was ever 
traceable in the complicated plot. But Ledru Rollin was 
openly accused, and Louis Blanc only escaped a warrant 
issued for his apprehension by flying to England. 

General Cavaignac, having successfully fulfilled the 
purpose for which the dictatorship had been confided to 
him, resigned it to the Assembly, who, passing him a vote 
of thanks, declared that he had deserved well of the 
country, and unanimously yielded him the chief executive 
authority, with the power of electing his ministers. 
His government, powerfully seconded by the eflbrts of 
the Assembly, soon restored tranquillity. Public confi- 
dence began to spring up again, revolutionary turbu- 
lence lost most of its terrors, and Louis Napoleon 
thought the moment at last come when he could finally 
return to his country. A letter of his to General Piat 
on the subject, copied into every paper of the time, ran 
as follows : — 

" London, Augmt 28, 1848. 

^<" General : You ask me if I would be willing to 
accept the part of representative of the people in case 
of being reelected ; I answer yes, without hesitation. 

'^ To-day, as it has been unanswerably demonstrated 
that my election in four departments (Corsica not in- 
cluded) has not been the result of an intrigue, and that 
I have remained a total stranger to every manifestation, 
to every manoeuvre of a political nature, I should deem 
myself negligent in my duty, if I did not respond to 
the appeal of my fellow- citizens. 



364 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

" My name can no longer be made a pretext for dis- 
orders. I long, therefore, to return to France, and to 
take my seat in the midst of those representatives of the 
people who desire to organize the republic on broad and 
solid bases. To render a return to past forms of gov- 
ernment impossible, there is but one way — to act bet- 
ter ; you know, general, we really destroy only what we 
replace. Receive, &c. 

"L. K B." 

In the five departments in which he had been elected, 
new elections to appoint his successor were held on the 
17th of September. The result was the same. In 
Paris he received 110,750 votes ; in Yonne 42,086 out 
of 50,000 voters ; and in the other three departments 
he was returned by equally triumphant majorities. 
Government opposition was now, of course, out of the 
question. He was quite aware of this, and though the 
decrees for his arrest still existed, and could be put into 
execution at any moment, he arrived in Paris on the 
S4th of September, without attempting incognito ; the 
next day the journals announced that he was residing in 
the Hotel de Phin, on the Place Vendome. 

As soon as his return was known, crowds, attracted 
by curiosity, took their station under the windows of 
his apartments ; his friends hastened to bid him welcome, 
and a number of distinguished men, belonging to all 
the elevated ranks of society, many of them old officers 
of the imperial armies, left their cards. On the 26th 
of September he appeared in the Assembly for the first 
time. He entered the hall, accompanied by two of his 
colleagues, M. Boulay (de la Meurthe) and M. Vieillard, 
his old friend. He took his seat on the benches of the 
Left. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 365 

His appearance produced a general movement of cu- 
riosity; and the buzz'of private conversations drowned 
for a while the voice of the speaker. All the interest 
of that sitting was thenceforward centred on the new 
representative : eyes were looking at him, and fingers 
pointed towards him, continually, from all parts of the 
Chamber. The clerk, charged to give the returns of 
the "elections of Seine, Corsica, Yonne, Charente-Infe- 
rieure, and Moselle, was called to the tribune, where he 
read his report in the midst of a clamor that hardly 
permitted a word to be heard ; he concluded by saying 
that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, having been elected by 
five departments, was admitted into the Assembly as 
representative of the people, and the report was adopted 
without opposition. 

As soon as the president proclaimed Louis Napoleon 
Bonaparte representative of the people, the prince arose, 
left his place, and ascended the tribune with a paper in 
his hand. All eyes were fixed on him. He was of 
the middle size, and appeared still young, being only 
forty years of age. He was dressed in black, with great 
elegance and taste, but with severe simplicity. His 
countenance wore an expression of melancholy, but his 
manners appeared easy and distinguished, and his voice 
was clear and sonorous as he read the following declara- 
tion : — 

*^ Citizen Representatives : I can no longer maintain 
silence regarding the calumnies of which I have been 
the object. 

" I find it necessary to express here aloud, and on 
the first day I am permitted to take a seat amongst you, 
the real sentiments which animate me, and which have 
always animated me. 
31* 



366 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^ After tliirty years of exile and proscription, I at 
last recover my country, and my rights as a citizen. 

^^ The republic has granted me this happiness : let the 
republic then receive the oath of my gratitude, the oath 
of my devotion, and let my generous countrymen, who 
have brought me into this Assembly, be certain that I 
shall endeavor to justify their suffrages by laboring with 
you for the preservation of tranquillity — that first of 
the country's wants — and for the development of those 
democratic institutions that the people have a right to 
demand. 

'^ For a long time I have been able to devote to France 
nothing but the meditations of exile and captivity. Now 
the career in which you march is open to me ; receive 
me into your ranks, my dear colleagues, with the same 
sentiment of affectionate confidence that I bear towards 
you. 

" My conduct, alv/ays inspired by duty, always ani- 
mated with respect for the law, shall prove, in spite of 
all those who, by blackening me, attempt to proscribe 
me again, that no one here is more determined than I to 
devote himself to the defence of order, and to the con- 
solidation of the republic." 

These words were received in freezing silence by the 
greater part of the Assembly. Republicans of yesterday, 
as they were called, who expected to see the prince at- 
tempting some theatrical display, by way of reminding 
them of his uncle, were prepared to overwhelm him 
with bitter ridicule. But his prudent words, his unas- 
suming and dignified manner, left them nothing to take 
hold of. On the other hand, however, the rest of the 
Assembly, and particularly the public in the galleries^ 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 367 

hailed his maiden speech with loud and favorable ac- 
clamations. 

Next day the government journals said that Citizen 
Louis Napoleon had the look of an English dandy, and 
that his German accent was quite shocking to French 
ears. Of all these papers the National was the bitterest 
and most persistent in its attacks. It persecuted its vic- 
tim, the pretender, as it called him, in the most merci- 
less manner. But Louis Napoleon seemed to be hardly 
aware of its existence. Still, to give as little pretext as 
possible to assaults of this nature, he seldom or never 
made his appearance in the Assembly, unless when his 
presence was absolutely necessary. His absence was of 
course noticed, and often called forth unpleasant remarks. 
And yet, when he did attend, his presence, silent and 
reserved, was felt to be a weight, as it were, on the de- 
bates, almost giving them a character of personality. 

In the mean time the assembly had been discussing the 
various provisions of the proposed constitution. One 
great point of interest was, whether the legislature should 
consist of two bodies, like the two houses of Conj^ress 
in the United States, or only of a single chamber. 

Able arguments were produced on both sides, but, 
unfortunately, the little benefit which the French had 
ever derived from the Senate had prejudiced them so 
much against the idea of an upper house, that it was 
finally decided by a large majority that there should be 
but one legislative chamber. 

On the 5th of October, after a letter from the prince 
was read, announcing that, being elected for five depart- 
ments, he had decided to sit for Paris, " the place of 
his birth," the Assembly took up the question regarding 
the manner in which the president of the republic should 



368 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

be nominated. Three plans were offered; firsts to liare 
the president appointed by the people by means of uni- 
versal suffrage ; second^ to have a sort of president of 
the council elected by the Assembly for an indefinite 
period, and removable at pleasure ; third, to have him 
irremovable, but to continue in power for a limited term. 
Though the two latter systems evidently made the presi- 
dent nothing but a puppet in the hands of the Assem- 
bly, they were not without many serious supporters. 

Members, as De Tocqueville said, had come to this 
sudden change in their sentiments regarding universal 
suffrage only from fear of seeing Louis Napoleon elect- 
ed president of the republic. But Lamar tine, in an elo- 
quent speech, unmasked the intrigue and crushed the 
plot. He showed that such a hole-and-corner election 
would have no weight whatever in the face of the coun- 
try, justly provoked as she undoubtedly would be at such 
a spoliation of her electoral rights. He drew a picture of 
France entering the Assembly and addressing each mem- 
ber in his turn : " You have elected the president be- 
cause he is your relation, and have thus made the inter- 
ests of your country subservient to your affections ; you^ 
because he is your friend, and this friendship holds out 
hopes of your own greatness ; you, because he has prom- 
ised you an embassy." 

The Assembly did itself justice ; members blushed at 
their indecision, and enthusiastic cheers greeted the fine 
personification of Lamartine. By a majority of six hun- 
dred and twenty-seven votes against one hundred and 
thirty, they decided that the president of the republic 
should be elected by the universal suffrage of the people. 

This decision rendered the presidential election of 
Louis Napoleon a matter of certainty. Every day his 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 369 

name gained fresh accessions of popularity in the prov- 
inces. The fiercest attacks made on him by the hostile 
journals only seemed to increase the number of his 
friends. Onslaughts in the Assembly were equally un- 
successful. On the 9th of October, in the presence of 
the prince, M. Antony Thouret, moved the following 
amendment : " No member of the families that have 
reigned over France shall be competent to be elected 
■president or vice president of the republic." It excited 
a warm discussion. Some of its opponents disapproved 
of the amendment, because, in their opinion, every lati- 
tude should be left to the people, whose sound demo- 
cratic sense was a sufficient guarantee that their votes 
would not be cast in favor of a pretender ; others sus- 
tained that such an exclusion would be only an indica- 
tion, a mark of distinction, serving rather as a pedestal 
than an obstacle. 

The prince, who saw that it was meant as a personal 
attack, ascended the tribune. ^' I do not intend to speak 
against this amendment," said he. '^ Certainly I have 
been sufiiciently rewarded by having my rights as a 
citizen restored to me, to entertain no other ambition. 

" Neither do I come to exclaim for myself against the 
calumnies of which I am the object. But it is in the 
name of the three hundred thousand electors who have 
repeatedly honored me with their suffrages, that I come 
here to disclaim and disavow, utterly and emphatically, 
this name of pretender, that is being continually flung at 
my head." These words were received with great ap- 
probation, and induced Thouret to withdraw his amend- 
ment. The result of this battle was the final and defi- 
nite repeal, on the next day, of the exile and proscription 
laws of 1816 and 1832 against the members of the Bona- 
parte family. 



370 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

The papers of the 24th of October contained the 
following letter, signed by Prince Napoleon, son of 
Jerome : — 

(( * * Some well-informed persons having warned 
representative Louis Bonaparte that certain simpletons 
were secretly laboring to get up a riot in his name, with 
the evident object of compromising him in the eyes of 
men of order, and of sincere republicans, Louis Napoleon 
considered it his duty to make M. Dufaure, minister of 
the interior, aware of these reports ; he added that he ut- 
terly denied any participation in dealings so completely 
opposed to his political sentiments, and to the conduct 
which he has invariably pursued since the 24th of 
February." 

The appearance of this note was the occasion of a vio- 
lent altercation in the Assembly. 

M. Grandin asked the minister for some explanation 
regarding this note, and the information alluded to by 
the prince. M. Dufaure replied that he had heard him- 
self of these reports, and added (sincerely or not) that 
he had immediately reassured Louis Napoleon, by tell- 
ing him that he was misinformed, and that no plot of 
such a nature was in contemplation. 

Hereupon Prince Napoleon stepped towards the 
tribune. 

The following almost verbal report of the ensuing 
scene is not without interest. 

Voice on the Left (to Prince Napoleon). — It is not 
your business to speak. The other one must speak — 
Louis Bonaparte ! 

Several Members. — He is absent. 

Many members of the Left, rising from their seats, 
look in the direction of M. Louis Bonaparte's usual 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 371 

place : they perceive that his seat is occupied by another 
representative. They cry out none the less to M. Na- 
poleon JBonaparte, still making his way to the tribune : 
No, not you — the other one. 

M. N. Bonaparte (in the tribune). — I do not come — 
(loud interruption). 

Numerous Voices. — Not you ! The other, the other ! 

M. N. Bonaparte struggles against the interruptions 
for a quarter of an hour ; at last silence is restored a 
little, and he insists that he has a right to speak on the 
subject, since he is the author of the letter. He explains 
that it was sent to the papers with the particular object 
to prove that the Bonaparte family never had any thing 
to do, and never would have any thing to do, with riots. 
As soon as he leaves the tribune, representative Clement- 
Thomas occupies it. 

M. Clement- Thomas. — Gentlemen, I know it is a 
failing of mine to be always wanting to sift things to 
the bottom ; and I am afraid this unpleasant feature in 
my character is going to make its appearance again to- 
day. But I must say, I am astonished that when a mat- 
ter personally concerning one member of this Assembly 
is brought before you, it is another member that appears 
to answer for it. (Interruption — uproar.) 

A. Voice. — The other is absent. 

M. Clement-Thomas. — It is not the first time that I 
remark the absence of representative Louis Bonaparte 
from this Assembly. 

Several Members. — What is that to you ? 

A Member. — This is scandalous. 

M. Clement-Thomas. — It is unnecessary for me to. 
say that I speak here in nobody's name ; no more for 
any party in the Assembly than for the government. 



372 , LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ISTo one is responsible for my words but myself. Well, 
then, I repeat it^ it is not the first time that I remark 
the absence of M. Louis Bonaparte. (New inter- 
ruption.) 

A Voice. — He is never here. 

Another Voice. — He never votes. 

M. Clement- Thomas, — And when I say this I know 
why I say it. You cannot deny that there are certain 
members of this Assembly who are about to present 
themselves to the country as candidates for very ele- 
vated and very important offices. (Vociferous exclama- 
tions — many members grouped in the passage on the 
right of the tribune, among whom are MM. N. Bonaparte, 
Pierre Bonaparte, Pietri, &c., loudly interrupt the orator.) 

The President Marrast (ringing his bell). — The rep- 
resentatives standing in the passage will please resume 
their seats. 

By this time a violent agitation pervades the Assembly 
generally. 

M. Clement-Thomas. — I say that several members of 
this Assembly are about to offer themselves to the peo- 
ple. But it is not by hardly ever attending your sit- 
tings, it is not by taking no part in your voting, it is not 
by maintaining a reserved silence on whence we come, 
where we go, what we want, that we can pretend to gain 
the confidence of such a country as Prance. Por my 
part, I suspect such tactics. (Interruption.) 

M. N. Bonaparte (quickly). — Vote against them 
then. 

Some Memhers. — Order, order ! 

President Marrast. — Monsieur Napoleon Bonaparte, 
if you interrupt again I shall call you to order. 

M, Clement-Thomas. — Since M. Napoleon Bonaparte 
is so ready to answer for his cousin 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 373 

Several Voices. — He has spoken for him abeady. 

M. Clement- Thomas. — I will ask him if it is not true 
that at this very moment agents are canvassing the prov- 
inces for M. Louis Bonaparte. 

Some Members. — Well^ what o^that ? 

M. Clement- Thomas. — I will ask him if it is not 
true that in every department they are presenting him 
to the least enlightened portion of the population ? And 
if this be true, I ask M. Napoleon Bonaparte,' on what 
title does his cousin put forward his claims ? (Inter- 
ruption.) 

M. Isamhert. — On his title of citizen. 

M. N. Bonaparte. — Are we here to discuss candi- 
dates for the presidency ? 

M. Clement-Thomas. — M. Isamhert tells me that 
every citizen has a right to present himself to the suf- 
frages of his country ; but it seems to me that pretensions 
of this nature should be supported by real titles. 

M. Pierre Bonajjarte. — That is impertinent, sir. 

M. Pieiri. — Totally unbecoming ! Who made you 
a judge of titles ? 

M. N. Bonaparte (indignantly). — We may be pro- 
scribed, but we must not be insulted ! (General tumult.) 

M. Clement-Thomas, seeing he has gone too far, leaves 
the tribune, amidst unmistakable marks of universal dis- 
approbation. 

Perhaps he wanted Louis ISTapoleon to send him a 
challenge. 

*^ One would think," said a general on his way home, 
after this scene, " one would think that M. Clement- 
Thomas has sufficient confidence in his sword to rely 
upon it altogether for simplifying the presidential 
election." 

3^ 



374 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 



CHAPTEE XXYII. 

Louis Napoleon in the Assembly declares his willingness to aC' 
cept the Presidential Gandidatecy. — The new Constitution 
proclaimed. — The rival Candidates. — Great Popularity 
of Louis Napoleon. — The live Eagle. — Manifesto of the 
Prince. — Opinions of Thiers and Girardin thereupon. — 
Disorders in Pome, and consequent Ifeasures of the Govern- 
ment. — Letter of Louis Napoleon giving his Peasons for not 
voting. — lO^A of December . — Tlie Prince triumphant in 
Paris. 

But Louis Napoleon expressly forbade his relations 
and his friends to demand any satisfaction from M. Clem- 
ent-Thomas for his outrageous attacks. He had deter- 
mined to pursue another course. On the morning after 
the strange scene described in the last chapter^ he re- 
paired to the Assembly^ and after the minutes were read^ 
ascended the tribune. " Citizen representatives/' said 
he^ " the unpleasant incidents that occurred here yester- 
day, on my account, do not permit me to be silent. I 
deeply regret to be again obliged to speak of myself, for 
it is repugnant to my feelings to see personal questions 
incessantly dragged before this Assembly at a time when 
the most important interests of the country are at stake. 

" Of my sentiments or of my opinions I shall not 
speak ; I have already set them before you, and no one 
as yet has had reason to doubt my word. As to my 
parliamentary conduct, I will say that as I never permit 
myself the liberty of bringing any of my colleagues to an 
account for the course which he thinks proper to pursue, 
so, in like manner, I never recognize in him the right to 
call me to an account for mine ; this account I owe only 
to my constituents. (Hear, hear ! ) 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 375 

" Of what am I accused ? Of accepting from the pop- 
ular sentiment a nomination after which I have not 
sought. (Disturbance.) Well ! I accept this nomination^ 
that does me so much -honor ; I accept it^ because three 
successive elections, and the unanimous decree of the 
National Assembly, reversing the proscriptions against 
my family, authorize me to believe that France regards 
the name I bear to be serviceable for the consolidation 
of society, now shaken to its foundations, " — (" Oh, oh ! " 
interruption) — " and for the establishment and prosperity 
of the republic. 

" How little do those who charge me with ambition 
know my heart ! If an imperative duty did not keep 
me here, if the sympathy of my fellow-citizens did not 
console me for the violence of the attacks of some, and 
even for the impetuosity of the defences of others, long 
since would I have regretted my exile. (Citizens Clem- 
ent-Thomas and Flocon start up to speak. Commotion. 
Cries of order ! order ! ) 

" I am reproached for my silence ! Few persons here 
are gifted with the faculty of eloquent speech obedient 
to just and sound ideas. But is there only one way to 
serve our country ? What she wants most of all is acts ; 
what she wants is a government, firm, intelligent, and 
wise, more desirous to heal the evils of society than to 
avenge them — a government that would openly set itself 
at the head of just ideas, and thus repel a thousand times 
more effectually than with bayonets those theories which 
are not founded on experience and reason. 

" I know that parties intend to set my path mth pits 
and snares ; but I shall not fall into them. I shall al- 
ways follow, in my own way, the course which I have 
traced out, without troubling myself or stopping to see 



376 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

wlio is pleased. Nothing shall interrupt my tranquillity, 
nothing shall induce me to forget my duty. I have but 
one aim ; it is to merit the esteem of the Assembly, and 
with this esteem, that of all good men, and the confidence 
of that magnanimous people that was made so light of 
"^here yesterday. (Exclamations.) 

^' 1 declare then to those who may be willing to organ- 
ize a system of provocation against me, that, hence- 
forward, I shall reply to no questioning, to no species 
of attack, to none who would have me speak when 1 
prefer to be silent. Strong in the approval of my con- 
science, I shall remain immovable amidst all attacks, 
impassible towards all calumnies." 

Such an explicit declaration excited general approval. 
However, Clement-Thomas exclaimed by way of triumph, 
" I congratulate myself on my success in at last inducing 
citizen Louis Bonaparte to assume the attitude of candi- 
date for the presidency. He has told us his title — 
what he calls his title — his name. It remains for us 
to see if France will find in a name sufiicient warrant to 
determine her suffrages." The citizen Flocon, too, at- 
tempted to excite the Assembly by pronouncing a dis- 
course of a particularly goading nature ; but the prince 
listened to him from his seat v/ithout betraying the least 
emotion. Finally, the Assembly, passing to the order of 
the day, decided that the election for the president of 
the republic should take place on the 10 th of Decem- 
ber, 1848. 

The new constitution was formally adopted on the 
4th of November, by a majority of seven hundred and 
thirty-nine votes against thirty. Among its opponents 
were Victor Hugo, Proudhom, Montalembert, Berryer, 
and other remarkable men. On Sunday, the l^th, in 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 877 

the midst of a violent snow storm, it was proclaimed on 
the Place de la Concorde witli religious ceremonies of 
an imposing character. The Archbishop of Paris, many- 
bishops, the members of the National Assembly, the au- 
thorities of the capital, deputations from all the depart- 
ments, and an immense number of the National Guards 
of France, were present on the interesting occasion. 

The Te Deum was chanted by a chorus of five hun- 
dred priests, assisted by five hundred professional singers. 
It was also read throughout the communes of France, 
and the country was soon to witness the regular work- 
ings of the new machine. 

In the mean time the day was approaching when, for 
the first time, France would be called upon to elect a 
president of the republic. The all-absorbing question 
was. Who is it to be ? The struggle between the rival 
ambitions was deadly. Six candidates took the field. 
The socialists, or red republicans, were split into three 
fractions ; one, the democratic, having for its leaders 
those members of the National Assembly usually seated 
on the highest benches in the Chamber, and hence called 
the Mountairij adopted Ledru Pollin as its candidate. 
Another fraction of the socialists, composed principally 
of the partisans of communism, rejected Ledru Pollin, 
and nominated Paspail as their candidate, though he was 
at that time a prisoner in the dungeons of Vincennes. 
Finally, a third fraction, composed of the remains of the 
worTcmen corporations, fixed its choice on Louis Blanc. 
All, however, formed but a very small portion of the 
nation. 

The moderates were also divided into three camps : 
First, that of Lamartine, consisting of the wrecks of tht 
great national party that had placed every confidence in 
32* 



378 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

Mm after the revolution of the 24th of February, sup» 
ported by two journals of little circulation, the Courrier 
Frangais and the Bien Puhlic ■; then, that of General 
Cavaignac, chief of the executive power, sustained by 
the National, the Siecle, the Journal des Dehats, the 
Ere Nouvelle, &c. ; and lastly, that of Prince Louis 
Napoleon Bonaparte, of which the principal journals 
were the Presse, the Constitutionnel, the Evenement, the 
Liberie, &c., all enjoying an immense circulation. 

Between the two latter candidates the real contest lay. 
General Cavaignac was strongly recommended to the 
choice of France, by having been deemed worthy by 
the National Assembly of being invested with the su- 
preme executive power. Moreover, his moderation of 
character ; his resolute attitude in danger ; the services he 
had rendered his country during the dreadful days of 
June ; his conciliatory sentiments, shown in the choice 
of his ministry ; his integrity ; his stern republicanism ; 
finally, his estimable personal qualities, and his great 
talents, — all pointed him out as a man deserving to 
occupy the loftiest position, and entitled to an immense 
suffrage. 

His adversaries, however, pretended that he could 
have prevented the days of June, and that he had per- 
mitted the explosion only in order to arrive at the dicta- 
torship. This accusation, inspired by a rancorous senti- 
ment of personal animosity, appeared every day, and 
under every form, for more than a month, in the columns 
of the Presse, edited by Emile de Girardin.. Though 
this able journalist's unscrupulous vindictiveness was 
well known, such imputations, copied into the other 
papers, and accompanied with all sorts of comments. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 379 

inflicted serious injury on the general's prospects.* He 
was, moreover, mortally hated by the red republicans, 
who could never forgive him for dealing their mad 
projects such a stunning blow. 

As to Prince Louis Napoleon, it could not be denied 
that he was the favorite candidate of the people, — the 
masses — particularly in the provinces. These simple, 
honest partisans of a name little cared whether they 
made him a president, a monarch, or an emperor, pro- 
vided they had the pleasure of voting for him. This is 
not surprising. Even in this country, where the hum- 
blest citizen can pretend to some political knowledge, 
we know what mighty influence was wielded by the 
name of Jackson. A letter, written on behalf of a 
committee of artisans, appearing about this time in the 
papers, well expressed the general sentiments of France 
towards Louis Napoleon. It contains such passages as 
the following : — 

'' The birth of M. Bonaparte shall never be a blemish 
in our eyes. His consangumity with the emperor is his 
first title to our friendship and to the hopes we repose 
in him. It is in like manner with his name. This name 
shall be always the most beloved, the most known, the 
most respected by the people. It shall always be the 
most luminous, the most pure, the most glorious name 
in our history. 

" It is a name on which humanity, in its magnificent 
future, shall pride itself. 

^^ It is the name written in the heart of France — a 
universal name, venerated by all nations, and which 
French injustice alone would assail. 

* Girardin had been put in prison on the 2ith of June, and kept there 
eleven days, by order of General Cavaignac. , 



380 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

''We will vote for M. Bonaparte, because we love 
Austerlitz more than civil war ; because we prefer the 
campaigns of Egypt, of Italy, of Russia, of Spain, to 
the campaigns of June, and because the splendid recol- 
lections, that ought to be recalled and commemorated, 
are, in our opinion, victories, capitals conquered, kings 
vanquished, criminals pardoned, churches opened, wounds 
healed, eagles covered with noble dust, but not with de- 
filement ; and not massacres, not ignominies, not fusil- 
lades, spoliations, and vengeances. 

" We will vote for M. Bonaparte, because M. Bona- 
parte is not only a man, but a principle also, and because 
this principle is a symbol to France of glory for the past 
and harmony for the future." 

The same language was held every where. The pop- , 
ularity of the name was boundless. Keen people, with 
an eye to business, did not fail to turn this enthusiasm 
to their own profit. Millions of busts, statues, medals, 
lithographs, &c., said to represent Louis Napoleon, but 
seldom bearing even a distant resemblance, soon flooded 
France. They were readily bought up : eager purcha- 
sers did not care to examine too closely. Even portraits 
of the Duke of Orleans, the Prince de Joinville, and 
other well-known public characters, found a ready sale, 
provided only that they wore a mustache, and were 
stamped with the magic name Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte. Along the whole line of the Boulevards, from 
morning till night, nothing was heard but this name re- 
peated in every variety of key, by newsboy, hawker, 
and pedler. 

On the other hand, his adversaries were not idle. 
[Ridicule, every where so powerful, is almost omnipotent 
in France. Of this the government party were not 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 381 

sparing. Pamphlets written by tlie cleverest writers, 
songs composed by the most satirical poets and adapted 
to the most popular airs, caricatures executed by the 
most ingenious artists, were distributed every where, 
almost gratuitously. A favorite subject of sarcasm, upon 
which pen and pencil rang an infinite number of changes, 
was the live eagle, which, we remember, had been found 
in the English steamer, after the unlucky attempt at 
Boulogne. It was in vain for the prince's friends to 
explain the presence of the unhappy bird, by certifying 
that it had been brought on board by a domestic, with- 
out orders, and unknown to every body : the wits would 
not give up their fertile topic. But, of course, they did 
not always confine themselves to such legitimate subjects 
for raillery. Truth, justice, honor, and decency were 
too often sacrificed in their unscrupulous attacks. Of 
all participation, however, in such scandalous outrages, 
it is with real pleasure that we unreservedly acquit the 
honorable General Cavaignac. " Gentlemen," said he 
one day to some of his partisans that had made a wrong 
use of his name, "if I am never to be elected president 
of the republic, leave me, at least, the consolation of 
possessing the esteem of honest men." 

The day appointed for the presidential election was 
approaching. 

General Cavaignac refused to publish any manifesto 
to the electors ; like Lamartine, he believed that his 
public acts were a sufficient manifesto in his favor. MM. 
Ledru Eollin and Easpail had already indemnified 
themselves for their certain defeat by filling their high- 
sounding manifestoes with every democratico-socialistic 
absurdity. 

Louis Napoleon had been long requested by his polit- 



382 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ical friends to publish, a clear^ direct declaration of his 
principles, as some sort of reply to the calumnies of his 
adversaries, and he at last yielded to their appeal by 
writing the following address : — 

" Louis J^apoleon Bonaparte to Ms Fellow-Citizens. 

" In order to recall me from exile, you elected me a 
representative of the people. 

" On the eve of the election of the chief magistrate 
of the republic, my name presents itself to you as a 
symbol of order and security. 

" These testimonies of a confidence so honorable to 
me are due, I am aware, much more to the name which 
I bear than to myself, who have as yet done nothing for 
my country ; but the more the memory of the emperor 
protects me, and inspires your suffrages, the more I feel 
myself called upon to make known to you my sentiments 
and my principles. 

'' There must be nothing equivocal between us. 

'' I am not an ambitious man, dreaming at one time 
of the empire and of war, at another of the adoption of 
subversive theories. 

" Educated in free countries, and in the school of 
misfortune, I shall always remain faithful to the duties 
which your suffrages and the will of the Assembly may 
impose upon me. 

" If I be elected president, I shall not shrink from 
any danger, from any sacrifice, to defend society which 
has been so audaciously attacked. I shall devote my- 
self wholly, without reserve, to the confirming of a re- 
public, which has shown itself wise by its laws, honest 
in its intentions, great and powerful by its acts. 

*' I pledge my honor to leave to my successor, at the 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 383 

end of four years, the executive powers strengthened, 
liberty intact, and a real progress accomplished. 

" Whatever may be the result of the election, I shall 
bow to the will of the people ; and I pledge beforehand 
my cooperation with any strong and honest government 
which shall reestablish order in principles as well as in 
things ; which shall efficiently protect our religion, our 
families, and our properties — the eternal bases of every 
social community; which shall attempt all practicable 
reforms, assuage animosities, reconcile parties, and thus 
permit a country rendered uneasy by circumstances to 
count upon the morrow. 

" To reestablish order is to restore confidence, to re- 
pair, by means of credit, the temporary depreciation of 
resources, to restore the finances, and to revive com- 
merce. 

" To protect religion and the rights of families is to 
insure the freedom of public worship and education. 

'^ To protect property is to maintain the inviolability 
of the fruits of every man's labor ; it is to guarantee 
the independence and security of possession, the indis- 
pensable foundations for all civil liberties. 

" As to the reforms which are possible, the following 
are those which appear to me to be the most urgent : — 

" To adopt all those measures of economy which, 
without occasioning disorder in the public service, will 
permit of a reduction of those taxes which press most 
heavily on the people. 

" To encourage enterprises which, whilst they develop 
agricultural wealth, may, both in France and Algeria, 
give work to hands at present unoccupied. 

" To provide for the relief of laborers in their old 
age, by means of provident institutions. 



384 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

^^ To introduce into our industrial laws ameliorations 
which may tend^ not to ruin the rich for the gain of the 
poor, but to establish the well-being of each upon the 
prosperity of all. 

" To restrict, within just limits, the number of em- 
ployments which shall depend on the government, and 
which often convert a free people into a nation of 
beggars. 

" To avoid that deplorable tendency v/hich leads the 
state to do that which individuals may do as wellj and 
better, for themselves ; the centralization of interests 
and enterprises is in the nature of despotism ; the nature 
of the republic rejects monopolies. 

" Finally, to protect the liberty of the press from the 
two excesses which always endanger it — that of arbi- 
trary authority on the one hand, and of its own licen- 
tiousness on the other. 

" With war we can have no relief to our ills. Peace, 
then, would be the dearest object of my desire. 

*^ France, at the time of her first revolution, was war- 
like, because others forced her to be so. Threatened 
with invasion, she replied by conquest. Now she is not 
threatened, she is free to concentrate all her resources to 
pacific measures of amelioration, without abandoning a 
loyal and resolute policy. 

^^ A great nation ought to be silent, or never to speak 
in vain. 

''^ To have regard for the national dignity is to have 
regard for the army, whose patriotism, so noble and so 
disinterested, has been frequently neglected. 

^^ We ought, whilst we maintain the fundamental 
laws which are the strength of our military organiza- 
tion, to alleviate, and not aggravate, the burden of the 
conscription. 



LIFB OP NAPOLEON III. 385 

** We ought to take care of the present and future 
interests, not only of the officers, but likewise of the 
non-commissioned officers and privates, and prepare se- 
cure means of subsistence for men who have long served 
under our colors. 

" The republic ought to be generous, and have faith 
in its future prospects; and for my part, I, who have 
suffered exile and captivity, appeal with all my warmest 
aspirations to that day when the country may, without 
danger, put a stop to all proscriptions, and efface the 
last traces of our civil discords. 

" Such, my dear fellow-citizens, are the ideas which 
I should bring to bear upon the functions of govern- 
ment, if you were to call me to the presidency of the 
republic. 

" The task is a difficult one — the mission immense. 
I know it. But I should not despair of accomplishing 
it, inviting to my aid, w^ithout distinction of party, all 
men who, by their high intelligence or their probity, 
have recommended themselves to the public esteem. 

'^ Besides, when a man has the honor to be at the 
head of the French nation, there is an infallible way to 
succeed, and that is, to desire to do so. 

« November 27, 1848." 

In the concluding sentence our readers will no doubt 
recognize a passage taken almost verbally from the Bou- 
logne Proclamation. 

Before sending this manifesto to the press, L. ISTapo- 
leon wished to submit it to the inspection of M. Thiers 
and M. de Girardin. M. Theirs was first admitted ; the 
prince commenced reading the document. "When he 
came to the sentence, " I should consider it a point of 
33 



386 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

honor to leave to my snccessor, at the end of four years^ 
authority confirmed, liberty intact, and a real progress 
accomplished," M. Thiers showed uneasiness. '' What 
do you mean ? " he exclaimed. Blot out, blot out that 
imprudent phrase. Enter into no engagements of the 
kind. Promise nothing. Eeserve every thing." 

When the prince, alluding to his exile and captivity 
wished for the day when " the country could reverse all 
proscriptions, and efface the last traces of civil war," — 

" Another imprudence ! " cried M. Thiers. " Talk 

not of amnesty when the blood of the battle of June is 

^not wiped from the pavement ; the Bourgeoisie would be 

in arms at the idea ; it is all very well to be generous ; 

what we now want is skill." 

In a word, M. Thiers decided that Louis Napoleon's 
manifesto was destitute of common sense, and next day 
he sent him one of his own composition, revised by Me 
Merruan, a man of talent, and the chief editor of the 
Cons titutionnel. 

M. de Girardin now came. The prince set the two 
manifestoes before him, without saying which was his 
own, and asked his opinion. 

^^ I think," answered the editor of La Presse when 
he had carefully read both over, " I think that one is 
true, like nature, the other feeble, like a copy traced by 
means of a pane of glass. Be yourself. There is no 
better way." 

When Louis Napoleon mentioned the scruples of M. 
Thiers with regard to the two phrases alluded to, M. de 
Girardin replied in these terms : — 

" Prince, this is serious. Do you really consider it a 
point of honor to leave to your successors, at the end 
of four years, an authority confirmed, liberty intact. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 387 

and a real progress accomplislied ? If you do, then re- 
tain the phrase ; if not, strike it out at once." Louis 
Napoleon did not strike it out.* 

About this time the news of the murder of Kossi, 
and the flight of Pius IX., arrived in Paris, bringing 
grief and consternation to all good men. General Ca- 
vaignac immediately gave orders that three steam frigates 
should proceed at once to Civita Vecchia, to protect the 
person of the Holy Father, whose fate was not yet 
known, and to convey him to France if he were willing 
to accept the hospitality of the French republic. Though 
this order excited the indignation of many members of 
the Assembly, the majority approved by formal vote of 
the urgent measures taken by the general. At this vote 
Louis Napoleon was not present, and he wrote the fol- 
lowing letter to the Constitutionnel to account for his 
absence : — 

" Mr. Editor : Understanding that my declining to 
vote on the question relating to the Civita Yecchia expe- 
dition has been made the- subject of remark, I think it 
my duty to declare that, though altogether of the opin- 
ion that all proper measures for effectually securing" the 
liberty and authority of the sovereign pontiff should be 
supported, I could not approve by my vote of a military 
demonstration that to me seemed dangerous, even for 
the sacred interests it is intended to protect, and of a 
nature to compromise the fate of Europe. 
" E-eceive, &c. 

" L. N. Bonaparte." 

In this letter many thought they could discover a 
secret leaning of the prince's towards the Koman insur- 

* Portraits Politiques par de la Guerriere. 



388 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 

gents ; and wlien it was heard that his cousin, the Prince 
of Canino, president of the Koman National Assembly, 
had put himself at the head of the new Roman republic, 
Louis Napoleon was openly accused of being in secret 
correspondence with him for the purpose of revolution- 
izing Italy. As a reply to these charges the prince 
wrote the following letter to the Pope's nuncio in 
Paris : — 

" MoNSiGNOR : I am unwilling that you should give 
credence to the reports tending to render me an accom- 
plice of the Prince of Canine's conduct at Rome. 

'^ For a long time I have had no intercourse with the 
eldest son of Lucien Bonaparte, and I deplore with all 
my soul that he has not perceived that the maintenance 
of the temporal sovereignty of the venerable head of the 
church is intimately connected with the lustre of Catho- 
licity, as well as with the Hberty and independence of 
Italy. 

" Receive, monsignor, the assurance of my sentiments 
of high esteem. L. N. Bonaparte." 

At last the important day came. The sky was won- 
derfully radiant, and the temperature mild for the 10th 
of December. The great civic act was performed every 
where with an ardor, an interest befitting the occasion. In 
the capital, and in the large towns generally, the electors 
proceeded to the ballot box grave and silent. In the ru- 
ral districts, on the contrary, the enthusiasm was at its 
height. Whole townships in procession, headed by the 
maire and the cure, bearing flags and streamers, 
marched to the polls with shouts of joy and peals of 
music, and voted unanimously for Louis Napoleon. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 389 

Tliougli it took some time to examine the returns, the 
result was not doubtful from an early moment. By the 
1-lth, the scrutiny of the votes for the department Seine 
was finished, and the issue was immediately proclaimed 
in the grand hall of the Hotel de Ville. Louis Xapo- 
leon had obtained 198,48-i out of 341,829 ; General 
Cavaignac 95,567 ; the rest were divided between Le- 
dru Rollin, Easpail, and Lamartine. 

Paris had given more votes to Raspail than to Lamar- 
tine ! 

The final result was not ofiicially made known until 
the 20th of December. 



CHAPTEE XXVIIL 

The Inauguration. — TJie Presidenfs Address. — Difficulties 
of Louis Napoleon^s new Position. — Was France really a 
JRepuhlic ? — The new Constitution ; its radical Defects. — • 
The Ministry. — Resignation of the Minister of the Interi- 
or. — His Successor fails in his Attempt to suppress the 
Cluhs. — Alarm of the 29th of January. — Progi-amme of 
the Solidarite. Repuhlicaine. 

A COMMITTEE of thirty representatives had been ap- 
pointed to examine the returns. On the 20th of De- 
cember, 1848, the chairman, M. Waldeck Pousseau, 
proceeded to read the report amidst the profound silence 
of the Assembly. 

" The Assembly," said he, " has called on the people 
to select the citizen who is to be the keystone of the re- 
publican arch. The nation has met ; she has cast into 
the ballot box the testimony of her confidence. You 

OO 



390 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

are now about to invest the man of her choice with the 
rights that belong to the truly popular dignity of presi- 
dent of the Eepublic. The voice of the people has 
spoken in the name of the entire country ; it is the 
sanction of their inviolable power." 

At this moment Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte 
entered the hall by the passage on the president's right. 
The ribbon of representative hung from his button hole, 
and his breast was decorated with the grand cordon of 
the Legion of Honor. He took his seat among the 
benches of the extreme Right, the place usually occu- 
pied by Odillon Barrot. This step, announcing before- 
hand who was to be prime minister, created a marked 
sensation. M. Waldeck E-ousseau, who had been inter- 
rupted for a moment, resumed : — 

" Let us beware of substituting for the expression of 
the will of gll, the desires of some and the regrets of 
others. These regrets should now cease, these divisions 
should be forgotten, and the zeal of all good citizens 
should sustain and support him whom the nation has 
chosen. 

" The sum total of the votes cast for the nomination 
of the president of the republic is 7,327,245. 

" Louis Napoleon has obtained 5,434,226 votes. 
« General Cavaignac, . , . 1,444,107 " 

" Ledru EoUin, 370,119 '' 

"Easpail, 36,920 « 

" De Lamartine, ...... 17,219 " 

^•^ General Changarnier, .... 4,690 *^ 

" By the number of votes obtained, citizen Louis 
Bonaparte, then, is the elect of the French people. 
The executive power is to be intrusted to him by you, 
without opposition, with calmness and dignity, as be- 
comes a great nation. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 391 

" Citizen representatives," said M. Waldeck Eous- 
seau, terminating his report, " almost nine months ago 
the repubhc, proclaimed in this hall, came forth from 
the storms of the S-ith of February ; to-day you impose 
on your work the seal of public consecration." 

General Cavaignac then ascended the tribune, and 
said, — 

"^ Citizen representatives, I have the honor of in- 
forming the National Assembly that the members of the 
cabinet have just sent me their collective resignation. I 
come forward in my turn to surrender to the Assembly 
the powers with which it had invested me. 

" You will understand, better than I can express, the 
sentiments of gratitude which the recollection of the 
confidence placed in me by the Assembly, and of its 
kindness towards me, will leave in my heart." 

This short address was received with prolonged shouts 
of applause. 

Armand Marrast, the president of the Assembly, hav- 
ing put the report of the committee to the vote, rose, 
and said, — 
^^ In the name of the French people. 

'^ Whereas citizen Charles Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte, born in Paris, possesses all the qualifications of 
eligibility required by the 44th article of the consti- 
tution, — 

" Whereas, in the election, open throughout the 
whole extent of the republic, he has received the abso- 
lute majority, — by virtue of the 47th and 48th articles 
of the constitution, the National Assembly proclaims 
him president of the French Republic from this day 
until the second Sunday of May, 1852. 

" I now invite the president of the republic to as- 
cend the tribune, and take the oath." 



392 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

The prince slowly ascended the tribune, and turned 
his face towards the president, who, in a loud, calm 
voice, read the oath of fidelity to the constitution : — 

" In the presence of God, and before the French 
people, represented by the National Assembly, I swear 
to remain faithful to the democratic republic, and to de- 
fend the constitution." 

^^ I swear," said the prince, earnestly, holding up his 
right hand. 

" I take God and man to witness the oath just sworn," 
cried the President Marrast. ^^ It shall be inserted in 
the official report, in the Moniteur, and published in the 
forms prescribed by the public acts." These' words, 
w^hich might be considered as rather uncalled for, pro- 
duced an evident impression on all present ; but the new 
president of the republic took no further notice of it 
than to read the following inaugural discourse : — 

" Citizen Representatives : The suffrages of the 
nation and the oath which I have taken command my 
future conduct. My duty is marked out ; I shall fulfil 
it as a man of honor. 

'^ I shall treat as enemies of the country all those 
who may attempt to change, by illegal means, what en- 
tire France has established. 

^^ Between you and me, citizen representatives, no 
real dissensions should exist : our wills, our desires are 
the same. 

" I wish, like you, to place society on its bases, to 
strengthen democratic institutions, and to try every means 
to relieve the sufferings of the generous and intelligent 
people that has just given me such a splendid mark. of 
confidence. (Cheers.) 

^* The majority which I have obtained not only fills 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 393 

me with, gratitude^ but it shall impart to the new gov- 
ernment the moral force without which there is no au- 
thority. 

'' With the reestablishment of peace and order^ our 
country can arise, heal her wounds, collect her stray 
children, and calm her passions. 

" Animated with this conciliatory spirit, I have called 
around me men of honesty, talent, and patriotism, fully 
assured that, notwithstanding the differences of their 
political origin, they are determined to cooperate har- 
moniously with you in applying the constitution to the 
perfection of the laws, to the glory of the republic. 
(Marked approbation.) 

" The new administration, in entering on business, 
must thank its predecessor for its efforts to transmit the 
power intact, and to maintain public tranquillity. (New 
applause.) 

''The conduct of the honorable General Cavaignac 
has been worthy of the loyalty of his character, and of 
that sentiment of duty which is the first qualification of 
the head of a state. (Loud cheers.) 

" We have, citizen representatives, a great mission to 
fulfil : it is to found a republic for the interest of all, 
and a government just, firm, and animated with a sincere 
love of progress, without being either reactionary or 
Utopian. 

" Let us be men of the country, not men of a party, 
and, with the assistance of God, we shall accomplish 
useful if not great things." 

Whilst the Chamber was still ringing with the pro- 
longed shouts that welcomed this speech, the prince de- 
scended the tribune, went up to the seat- of General 
Cavaignac, and shook him warmly by the hand. The 



394 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

general received lilm as cordially, whilst tlie act was 
hailed with fresh demonstrations of applause from all 
parts of the house. The prince then told M. Marrast 
that M. Odillon Barrot was empowered to form the new 
cabinet, and that the names of the ministers would be 
published the same evening in the Moniteur. The pres- 
ident of the Assembly ordered the committee to conduct 
the president of the republic to the door of the Legisla- 
tive Palace, and to do him the honors due to his rank. 
Several representatives joined the cortege^ which passed 
between two lines of the National Guard : the new chief 
of the executive power entered his carriage, and escorted 
by General Changarnier and by General Lamoriciere, 
rode to the Ely see Palace, which a decree had fixed 
upon as his place of residence. Thus ended the scene 
of the presidential inauguration. 

So far we have seen Louis JSTapoleon struggling brave- 
ly and perseveringly against a host of obstacles. Isfow 
that he has surmounted them all, and that his admiring 
countrymen have placed him in the highest post of hon- 
or it was then possible to attain, we shall find him con- 
tending with difficulties of a difierent nature. His life 
is henceforward public, and his history is the history of 
France, if not of Europe. In this work it is not our 
intention to enter into the acts of his public life. The 
^events that took place during his presidency would re- 
quire a volume for themselves ; and, besides their com- 
plexity, they are, as yet, too little removed from us in 
point of time to be viewed all together as a whole. 
Erom this want of unity the "record becomes perplexing, 
if not uninteresting ; and we shall therefore give the an- 
nals of the presidency very succinctly, aiming at the 
same time, however, at clearness and connection. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 395 

Louis Napoleon, at tlie beginning of his presidential 
career, found himself entangled in a web of embarrass- 
ments from which an escape could be effected only by 
the most -exquisite prudence. His position may be real- 
ized by considering that he was expected to govern as a 
republic a country which was no republic. It was called 
a republic indeed, and possessed a constitution. But 
changing the name does not change the nature of things. 
She was not without, of course, some genuine republi- 
cans, but they were like a flake of snow in the ocean. 
Notwithstanding the recent transactions, France was at 
heart as little republican as ever ; for any one can see 
that the revolution of February was not her act. It was 
the act of a few secret society leaders and " exalted " 
journalists in Paris, signally favored by circumstances. 
Louis Philippe, personally unpopular, in a little emeute 
lost his presence of mind, and his ministers were equally 
as incompetent in the trying moment. Instead of rally- 
ing the friends of order around him, and standing man- 
fully at his post, as was a king's duty, the *^ Napoleon 
of peace " paralyzed the efforts of his troops, and dis- 
gracefully fled, leaving Paris virtually without a govern- 
ment, and at the mercy of a mob. It is certain that the 
cry of " republic," raised at that moment, saved the cap- 
ital from destruction; and it is equally certain that France, 
astounded at the sudden turn affairs had taken, and not 
knowing what to do at the instant, by her silence mani- 
fested a sort of acquiescence. But this is no proof of 
her love of republican sentiments. We can suppose a 
somewhat similar case, though from its impossibility the 
comparison is not a good one. Let us imagine, however, 
Washington, the capital of the United States, to have 
become, by its wealth, intellect, commercial importance. 



396 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

and centralization of power, possessed of as much influ- 
ence over the cities of the other states as, say, Boston 
has over the smaller towns of Massachusetts. Suppose, 
then, that, one morning, some secret society upset the 
government in Washington, drove away the president, 
dissolved Congress, declared itself a provisional govern- 
ment, and by its underhand agency so distracted the 
councils of the other states that no immediate opposition 
could be attempted, and that even a momentary accLui- 
escence in the usurpation could be extorted from us — 
in such a case would we cease to be republicans ? Cer- 
tainly not ; for whatever misfortunes may beset the gov- 
ernment, the people is still essentially republican. Re- 
publicanism is as natural here as the air we breathe. It 
was the only form of government possible here from the 
moment the flying European set his foot on our shores. 
It does not date from our revolution. Such a revolution 
was one more in name than in reality ; it was merely 
the shaking of a dead branch off a vigorous sapling. It 
came as a matter of course. Our republic is no forced 
hothouse plant, no mushroom sprung up in a night 
time ; it is now a goodly tree more than two hundred 
years old, with trunk of iron, with roots deeply embed- 
ded in a rocky soil, and with knotty branches, stubborn 
and unbending before the blast of the wildest tempest. 
May its shadow never be less ! Most certainly, the ac- 
cident of a midnight cabal seizing the government at 
Washington, holding it for a time, and even forcing us 
to bear with their antics for a time, would not change 
our republican sentiments. Many and many a year of 
suffering, misgovernment, and bloodshed should first 
elapse, and these should then be undeniably shown to be 
the inevitable consequences of republicanism, before our 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IlL 39T 

sentiments and convictions regarding the perfect suita- 
bleness of sucli a form of government for a country like 
tliis^ could undergo a change. 

It is not so with France. She was never republican. 
Neither the hideous reign of terror, nor the miserable 
government of the directors, could be called a republic. 
Whatever the monsters were, they could not stand. Nor 
could the republic of 1848 stand a week but for the 
hopes held out to agrarianism on the one hand, and to 
monarchism on the other, by the convocation of a Na- 
tional Assembly^ And even after this body had met, 
and was laboring with all its ability for the amelioration 
of the country, was not France brought to the brink of 
destruction, and barely saved by the stern energy and 
Roman firmness of the dictator Cavaignac, at the ex- 
pense of ten thousand lives ? Who maintained republi- 
canism, such as it w^as, for the next three years ? The 
Assembly ? France ? No, Louis Napoleon. The As- 
sembly only threw obstacles in the way of government, 
and France had little love for republicanism. France is 
not republican. Her wishes and tendencies are demo- 
cratic, but herself certainly is not republican. She de- 
sires that the institutions of government be founded on 
a broad and liberal basis, and that all her children be 
protected and cherished without distinction ; she wishes 
her people to be all possessed of the same rights ; she 
wishes that every honorable career be open to every one, 
capacity being the only qualification ; she desires the 
abolition of all privileges except those of merit and vir- 
tue ; she wishes her afi"airs to be administered at home 
according to these principles, and abroad with due regard 
to her independence and greatness. She wishes to have 
some share in this direction of affairs too ; only this 
34 



398 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III, 

share must not be great enougb. to absorb her attention 
altogether ; for she does not understand the business 
quite thoroughly ; it was never her nature, and it has 
not yet become her habit. 

Louis Napoleon, then, had to govern by accidentally- 
republican institutions a country not all republican. 
Did the Assembly assist him in this difficult task ? On 
the contrary, pursuing a system of jealousy and suspi- 
cion from the very outset, it did every thing to thwart 
him. It could not do otherwise. It was not sincerely 
republican. It consisted of Legitimists, Orleanists, Re- 
publicans of yesterday, Revolutionists, Reactionaries, 
Socialists, Red Republicans, and Communists. It is not 
to be denied at the same time, that it contained some 
sincere men, of generous minds and philosophical tem- 
perament, who, from a peculiar course^ of studies, or 
from having witnessed Louis Philippe's government 
continually assailed, had seriously concluded that a re- 
public was the only form of government that was possi- 
ble in France, and the best suited to the progress of 
society. Had all the Assembly consisted of such men, 
we have no doubt the republic would have still stood its 
ground, and the president continued president and noth- 
ing more. He would not have changed the form of 
government, if for no other reason, simply because he 
could not ; an Assembly of nine hundred sincere repub- 
licans would have argued the ability of a nation to gov- 
ern itself. 

Of the new constitution the following were the prin- 
cipal features. It recognized universal suffrage, every 
citizen being an elector at the age of twenty-one, and 
eligible to office at the age of twenty-five. The execu- 
tive power was vested in the president, who was to be 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 399 

elected for four years. Besides the Assembly^ a council 
of state was constituted^ consisting of forty members, 
elected by the Assembly, and holding office for six years. 
They were to be consulted in prescribed cases, but had 
no voice respecting the finances, the state of the army, 
or the ratification of treaties. The vice president of the 
Assembly was to be president of this council. The 
members of the Assembly were to be paid, receiving 
each twenty-five francs (five dollars) per day. The con- 
stitution could not be revised until it had been three 
years in operation. 

But it contained many inherent defects that prevented 
it from working well, if not disabling it altogether. 
Adopted with too much haste, the lines of distinction 
between the duties and rights of the different branches 
of government had not been drawn with sufficient clear- 
ness ; a collision was thus rendered inevitable, and un- 
constitutionality became a matter of course. Then, in- 
stead of resting on broad, liberal bases, regarding and 
recognizing no particular person, many of its provisions 
seem to have been dictated through a jealousy and mis- 
trust of Louis Napoleon. By the forty-fifth article 
the reelection of the president was forbidden until after 
an interval of four years ; the forty-eighth obliged him 
and the vice president, alone of all the functionaries of 
the government, to take the oath. The fiftieth inter- 
dicted his personal command of the army ; the fifty -fifth 
limited his right to pardon, and took away that of am- 
nesty ; the sixty-eighth was directly threatening, &c. 
Then the president had no power to dissolve one Assem- 
bly, and thus obtain the sense of the country, by the 
election of another. 

The new president commenced his career by an act 



400 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

intended to be conciliatory. He chose his ministry from 
all the ranks of the majority ; Odillon Barrot, head of 
the cabinet, was minister of justice. The command of 
the army in Paris was confided to General Changarnier, 
who was already commander-in-chief of the National 
Guards. Public confidence soon commenced to rally ; 
stocks of all kinds began to rise ; extensive establish- 
ments gradually opened ; business improved in the 
manufacturing districts ; in short, every where signs of 
returning prosperity could be seen. On the S6th Odil- 
lon Barrot read the programme of the ministry to the 
Assembly. " The election of the 10th of December," 
said he, " has placed immense^ strength in the hands of 
the government ; it is our duty to see that it does not 
go astray or prove abortive." 

Although we cannot even allude to all the many va- 
riances and strifes that naturally arose between the presi- 
dent, his ministry, and the Assembly, until, after a 
period of three years, an end was finally put to them by 
the " coup d'etat," we must not pass by an incident that 
created much talk at this time, and showed ministers 
conclusively the character of the man with whom they 
had to deaL " Monsieur," said the president to M. cle 
Maleville, minister of the interior, on the same day 
that Odillon Barrot had completed the formation of the 
cabinet, " there are in the archives of the ministry of 
the interior sixteen cases containing papers relating to 
the afifairs of Strasburg and Boulogne ; you will send 
them to me at the Elysee as soon as you shall have taken 
possession of your ministry." This demand troubled 
M. de Maleville, for he knew that these documents con- 
tained all the secret manoeuvres to which those attempts 
had given rise — the Boulogne affair especially at the 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 401 

very time when himself was chief secretary to the min- 
ister of the interior. Having consulted some friends 
on the subject;, he decided on putting the papers under 
seal, and depositing a list of their contents in charge of 
M, Hermann, his chief secretary. He eluded the re- 
peated demands of the president by evasive replies. At 
last Louis Napoleon grew impatient, and seeing, more- 
over, that M. de Maleville thought proper to open all 
the telegraphic despatches himself, and even send re- 
plies without submitting them to his (the president's) 
inspection, he v/rote him the following letter : — 

"Eltsee, December 28, 1848. 

^^ M. Le Ministre : I asked the prefect of police if 
he did not occasionally receive reports on diplomatic 
affairs. He replied in the affirmative ; and he added that 
he had addressed to you yesterday copies of a despatch 
from Italy. Those despatches, j^ou will understand, 
ought to be directly forwarded to me ; and I miist ex- 
press to you my displeasure at this delay in their com- 
munication. 

"I req^uest you, likewise, to send me the sixteen 
cases I have demanded. I wish to have them on Thurs- 
day. They contain documents relative to the affairs of 
Strasburg and Boulogne. I do not intend, either, that 
the minister of the interior should prepare the articles 
personal to myself. This was not the case under Louis 
Philippe, and should not be the practice now. 

" Besides, I have not received for some days any 
telegraphic despatches. On the whole, I perceive that 
the ministers I have named wish to treat me as if the 
famous constitution of Sieyes was in vigor ; but I will 
not suffer it. 



402 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

"E-eceive, M. le Ministre, the assurance of my senti- 
ments^ &c. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

The result of this sharp communication was the resig- 
nation of M. de Maleville, who was immediately suc- 
ceeded in the ministry of the interior by Leon Faucher. 

The first act of this minister was an attempt to close 
the clubs. On the 26th of January, 1849, he brought 
forward a bill for that purpose, and urged its necessity. 
*'^The clubs," said he, "are the centres of the secret 
societies. Under their dissolving action no regular gov- 
ernment is possible." But Ledru Rollin denounced 
the bill as a direct violation of the constitution, and the 
Assembly rejected it by a majority of seventy-six. Such 
a defeat so elated the Mountain that Ledru Eollin pro- 
posed the impeachment of the ministry ; and the blow so 
disconcerted the latter that frhey came in a body to the 
president to hand in their resignation. " Not at all, 
gentlemen," said Louis Napoleon ; " I will not accept 
your resignation ; I rely on you ; do you rely on me." 
And after some conversation on the circumstance in 
which he endeavored to inspire them with his own cour- 
age, he dismissed them, saying, " Changarnier has re- 
ceived his orders ; the time of barricades is past." 

In fact, early in the morning of the S9th of January 
the citizens of Paris were suddenly awaked by the drums 
beating to arms. The streets were immediately filled 
with troops. " Ah, it is come at last ! " is the cry. 
" The Assembly is attacked. A coup d'etat." No, it 
is simply some precautionary movements occasioned by 
disturbances among the Garde Mobile. This body, con- 
sisting principally of young men belonging to the poorer 
classes of Paris, instituted by Lamartine when he was 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 403 

at the head of the proAasional government, though it 
had rendered important service on several occasions in 
the suppression of disorder, had latterly become some- 
what dissatisfied with the attempts made by government 
towards its reorganization, and openly threatened to ap- 
peal to force. It was necessary to bring the malcontents 
to their senses by an energetic demonstration. The 
idea completely succeeded, and order was no further 
troubled. 

But it was soon known that the previous night several 
representatives had been arrested at the head quarters of 
the Solidariie Repuhlicaine , one of the latest and most 
influential of the secret societies, and that the Garde 
Mobile had not been the only cause of the disturbance. 
Among the papers seized there at the same time was the 
following, containing the principal favors which the mem- 
bers of the democratic republic proposed to confer upon 
Prance : — 

" Dissolution of the National Assembly ; establishment 
of a committee of public safety ; annulment of the con- 
stitution ; imprisonment of the Bonaparte family ; sup- 
pression of the liberty of the press for two years ; sup- 
pression of individual liberty for three months ; trial by 
commission of all the officers and magistrates who had 
taken part in the condemnation of the prisoners of June^ 
1848 ; establishment of paper money to supply the rev- 
enue ; trial of every minister since 1830 ; the right to 
labor ; dissolution of the National Guard ; adoption of 
the red flag with the triangle egaUtaire ; progressive 
tax ; confiscation of the property of all that should emi- 
grate, and of those who should be condemned by the 
revolutionary tribunal." 

This was the programme that was to inaugurate the 
victory of " the people." 



404 LIFE OP NAPOLEON Ille 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Extent of the Go^ispiracy. — ■ The Proposition Rateaii. — Prop" 
agandism of the Bed Repuhlicans. — Committee of the 
Street Poitiers. — Severe Letter from the President to Ms 
Cousin Napoleon. — Expedition to Pome. — Divisions in the 
Assembly. — Neiu Elections, and Successes of the Mountain. 
' — The Presidents Message. — - The Red Republicans, headed 
by Ledru Rollin, attempt another Insurrection, but are com- 
pletely discomfited. — Oudinot besieges and takes Rome. 

Next day the radical journals accused the president 
of having fabricated a conspiracy, in order to play the 
part of deliverer, and to have himself appointed dictator, 
by means of the army. But news from the departments 
proved the reality of a conspiracy, which was only wait- 
ing the signal from Paris to burst forth at different points 
over the country. At Metz, Perpignan, and elsewhere, 
seditious manifestations had occurred ; the wildest re- 
ports had been circulated through the east and south ; 
but despatches announcing the real state of things in 
Paris soon restored order. This was the first attack 
made on the president by the red republicans. 

One of the immediate effects resulting from the tri- 
umph of the government was the final passage by the 
Assembly of a motion to dissolve, called the Rateau pro- 
position. The Assembly, having framed a constitution, 
the ostensible purpose for which it had been elected, 
should have retired long since to give way to the new 
Assembly, called the Legislative, to be elected according 
to the new electoral laws ; but, instead of doing so, it had 
protracted its session, day after day, under the pretence 
of completing certain organic laws, pleading in justifica- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 405 

tion some article in the constitution. The country, how- 
ever, becoming tired of the continual quarreHing, and 
eager for tlie new elections, had sent in thousands of 
petitions, insisting on a dissolution. These the Assembly, 
so far, had contrived to disregard ; but, after the 29th of 
January, the pressure from without became so strong 
that Bateau's proposition was at last agreed to, the As- 
sembly defining the period of its own dissolution, and 
that of the meeting of its successor. Its last act of hos- 
tility to the government was the abolition of the tax on 
liquors, which would diminish the revenue of the suc- 
ceeding year by more than a hundred millions of francs. 
The 29th of January, however, had dealt only an 
insignificant blow to the red repubhcan party. Stunned 
for a moment, it was soon as active at work as ever. 
Porce having this time failed, a new and terrible engine 
was now put into operation, in order to render it more 
successful on the next occasion. This was the organi- 
zation of the best writers that could be found, to be em- 
ployed in composing works exclusively devoted to the 
propagation of socialist principles. These were to be 
distributed, at little or no price, all over the country, 
especially among that portion of the population which 
was the most ignorant, the least intelligent, and, of course, 
the most accessible to violent and vindictive passions. 
These publications, whose existence was hardly known 
to the public generally, never being advertised, or seen 
in a respectable bookstore, were soon to be found in the 
peasant's hut, the artisan's workshop, and even in the 
soldier's sentry box. They all turned, so to speak, in 
the narrow circle of those ideas that pervert simple, cred- 
ulous minds, inspiring them with sentiments of envy, 
selfishness, and cruelty, impelling them to forget all 



406 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

moral and religious duties, and moulding tHem into the 
blind instruments of social disorder and civil war. 
Though different in appearance, and bearing different 
names, in substance they were the same. They were 
generally almanacs, catechisms, dialogues, pamphlets, 
discourses, obscene songs, or savage poems. Their 
influence for evil was incalculable. Artisans were easily 
seduced by the promises held out of the " good time 
coming," when money was to be plenty, and labor light. 
Poor peasants desired nothing better than a division of 
property, and their own share in the lands they culti- 
vated. The soldiers were less tractable ; their experi- 
ence of republicanism had not been very agreeable, and 
they never thought of " fraternization " without disgust. 
Still, even in the army socialistic principles progressed 
rapidly. 

Such a state of things on the eve of a general election 
was alarming. The moderate party endeavored to coun- 
teract it. At first they conceived the idea of writing down 
the socialist tracts by the publication of opposition tracts, 
inculcating the principles of law and order, and to be 
disseminated gratuitously. A subscription amounting to 
a million francs was immediately raised, but the plan did 
not succeed ; for though the little books were distributed 
in great numbers, nobody would read them. Literary 
warfare thus proving unavailing, the committee of the 
street Poitiers, as it was called, thought of strengthening 
itself by an alliance with the executive. With Thiers 
at their head, they surrounded Louis Napoleon, assuring 
him that they were his best friends, and that if they 
were not returned, he could not maintain his ground. 
They added gravely that no other head of the govern- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 407 

ment was possible, and that it was absurd to tbink of 
either of the Bourbon dynasties. 

The president, knowing that much of what they said 
was true, did not impugn the rest, and accepted their 
proffered assistance. His only chance of maintaining 
tranquillity in the country lay in playing one great party 
against the other ; and though well aware that the royal- 
ists were no friends of his, he knew them generally to 
be honorable men, and he readily promised them all the 
influence at the command of the government. Thus 
was formed the electoral committee of the street Poi- 
tiers. Abbatucci, a friend of the prince's, strongly 
combated the idea of creating this committee. " They 
will take your flag," he said, " to conquer with ; but after 
the victory they will turn round against yourself." 

The intentions of the royalist parties at this period 
seem to have been the following : They would maintain 
Louis Napoleon in his seat until such time as they con- 
sidered themselves strong enough to overwhelm the dif- 
ferent shades of the republicans. This crisis, resulting 
from incessant ruptures among their opponents, and 
from the growing reaction of the nation in favor of 
monarchy, they expected would soon arrive. Perhaps, 
however, they would wait until the expiration of the 
president's term. Then, through their majority in the 
Assembly, and their influence in the country, they were 
confident of quietly replacing him by the Count de 
Chambord, son of the Duke de Berri, and the head of 
the elder branch of the Bourbons, or else by the Prince 
de Joinville or the Count of Paris, on whose respective 
availability the Orleanist party was not quite agreed. 

From the prince himself they seemed to apprehend 
no opposition whatever. His coldness, reserve, and 



408 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

silence tliey mistook for stupidity. His utter incapacity 
was to them a foregone conclusion. 

" Thank Heaven, we shall soon get rid of him/' said 
an Orleanist one day, in presence of Thiers, ^'^ and that 
easily. He is a madman, possessing only the stubborn- 
ness of infatuation. We will not do him any harm, 
however ; we shall only send him to London to be shut 
up in Bedlam." 

Thiers only shrugged his shoulders with a look of 
tender compassion for the speaker. 

It was so at the balls and banquets given at the 
Elysee. At first regarded very shyly by the aristocracy 
of Paris, these soon became quite the fashion, and, not- 
withstanding the insufficiency of space, they were allowed 
to rival in brilliancy and splendor the grandest festivi- 
ties of the Tuileries. They were, however, so expensive, 
that the prince's private fortune was soon exhausted. 
" Louis Napoleon ruins himself to do the honors of the 
presidency," exclaimed, one evening at the Elysee, an 
eminent banker of Paris, who had not disdained to be 
one of his guests. '^At the expiration of his term we 
shall send him to prison for debt." 

The president was of course well aware of the real 
state of things, and fully understood what he had under- 
taken to do on entering into an alliance with the com- 
mittee of the street Poitiers. But though it laid him 
still further open to the charge of incompetency, he 
strenuously exerted himself, during the elections, in favor 
of the royalists, and went so far as to sacrifice even per- 
sonal friends to secure the return of M. Thiers and M. 
Berryer. 

A remarkable letter appeared at this time in the papers, 
which we cannot omit. Young Napoleon, Jerome's son. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 409 

had been appointed ambassador to Spain. This prince, 
little gifted with the prudence of his cousin, and pos- 
sessing a remarkable personal resemblance to his uncle, 
the great Napoleon, the repubhcaus had already fixed 
upon as a serious rival with the president for the impe- 
rial fanaticism of the people, to be held over him, as it 
were, in terrorem. Whether intending so or not. Napo- 
leon by his language sometimes exposed his family to 
violent attacks from its watchful enemies, and thus 
brought upon himself sharp rebukes from his cousin. 
The following letter, appearing in a Bourdeaux paper, 
dated April 15, fully explains itself. 

" Elyseb National, April 10, 1849. 

^«My dear Cousin : It is said that on your way 
through Bourdeaux you made use of words capable of 
sowing dissension even among the best intentioned. 
You are reported to have said that I did not follow my 
own inspirations because I was ruled by the leaders of 
the reactionary movement ; that I was impatient of the 
yoke, and wanted to shake it off; and that, in order to 
assist me at the approaching elections, it was necessary 
to send to the Chamber men hostile to my government, 
rather than those belonging to the moderate party. 

'^ Such an imputation coming from you cannot but 
surprise me. You should know me well enough to be 
aware that I never brook the ascendency of any one, 
and that I struggle incessantly to govern for the inter- 
est of the people, not for the interest of a party. I 
honor those men who by their capacity and experience 
can give me good counsels ; but if I receive daily the 
most contradictory advice, I obey nothing but the im- 
pulses of my own head and heart. 
35 



410 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

'^ Censure of my political conduct v/as last of all to 
be expected from you, who found fault with my mani- 
festo, because it had received the entire sanction of the 
chiefs of the moderate party. This manifesto, from 
which I have not deviate d, still continues to be the con- 
scientious expression of my sentiments. . 

" My first duty was to reassure the country. "Well, 
confidence has been increasing during the last four 
months. Every day has its own task. Security first, 
reform afterwards. 

" The approaching elections, I entertain no doubt, by 
strengthening the republic in order and moderation, will 
hasten the period of all possible reforms. To bring all 
the old parties together, to reconcile them, to unite 
them, should be the constant object of our exertions. 
Such is the mission attached to the great name we bear ; 
and it would prove a failure if it served to divide and 
not to rally the supporters of the government. 

'^For all these reasons I cannot approve of your be- 
ing nominated by a score of departments at once ; for, 
consider it well, under the protection of your name, it 
is expected to send to the Assembly representatives hos- 
tile to the government, and to discourage its best 
friends by wearying the people with multiplied elec- 
tions which should be made over again. 

" Henceforward, then, I hope, my dear cousin, you 
will use every exertion, to enlighten the people regard- 
ing my real intentions, and to avoid furnishing grounds, 
by inconsiderate expressions, for absurd calumnies 
which go so far as to assert that sordid self-interest 
alone rules my conduct. Nothing, repeat it aloud, shall 
trouble the serenity of my judgment or shake the 
strength of my resolution. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 411 

" Free from every mental restraint, I shall walk in 
the path of honor, with my conscience for my guide ; 
and when I shall relinquish the authority, if I may be 
reproached for faults fatally inevitable, I shall at least 
have performed what I sincerely consider my duty. 

" Receive, my dear cousin, the assurance of my 
friendship. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

Before dismissing this affair, it may be added that the 
original letter and the journals publishing it reached 
Madrid at the same time, and the prince immediately 
started for Paris to justify himself with the president. 
But he was soon informed that his functions as ambas- 
sador of Spain had ceased, for having left his post with- 
out permission. The punishment was severe, and the 
royalists were by no means displeased at witnessing 
this commencement of disaffection between the two chiefs 
of the Napoleon dynasty. 

Complacent as the moderate party had found the 
president on this occasion, his independent judgment 
and stern resolution were fully displayed at the same 
period in a signal and well-known instance. Many 
words are not necessary to tell the familiar tale. 

Pius IX., on ascending the pontifical throne, (June 
16, 1846,) commenced a system of reform in his do- 
minions, which for eighteen months he continued to 
pursue in spite of every obstacle, never resting until 
he had established a constitutional or representative sys- 
tem of government. This course neither pleased the 
conservatives nor satisfied the liberals. The former 
considered it too rapid to be safe, and nothing short of 
their own absolute supremacy could satiate the latter. 



412 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

Crowds of Italians, Germans, and Frenchmen, refugees 
from tlieir own country for the troubles they had caused 
there, took shelter in Eome, swelling the ranks of the 
"patriotic " party, and rendering it not only more auda- 
cious and ambitious, but altogether uncontrollable. In- 
stead of waiting patiently for the ameliorations assured 
to them by the virtues and prudence of the Pope, the 
pretended leaders drove the people to rebellion. Rossi, 
the minister of foreign affairs, was assassinated in the 
^open day, just as he was leaving his carriage to enter 
the Chamber of Deputies. Shortly after, the mob 
besieged the Quirinal, the Pope's residence, and com- 
pelled the Holy Father to accept a ministry named by 
themselves. This measure not satisfying them, and find- 
ing his life in imminent danger, the Pope at last quitted 
his palace, on the 24th of November, 1848, and took 
refuge with the King of Naples at Gaeta. As soon as 
this was ascertained, the insurgents, led chiefly by Maz- 
zini, and the Prince of Canino, son of Lucien Bonaparte, 
and first cousin of Louis Napoleon, formed a provision- 
al government, proclaimed the Poman republic on the 
8th of February, 1849, and the fall of the temporal 
power of the Pope. 

. But Europe still recognized its existence, and Austria 
threatened the new republic on one side, Naples on the 
other. The republicans called on their French " broth- 
ers " for aid. France did interfere, but it was in a man- 
ner totally unexpected. 

France was still a Catholic country. But even if she 
were not, here was an act of injustice too flagrant, and 
indeed too dangerous, to be overlooked. She saw a 
horde of adventurers, most of them fugitives from the 
punishment their turbulent conduct had deserved, gen- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 413 

eronsly received by one of the most benevolent sover- 
eigns that ever existed, and then taking such advantage 
of circumstances as to instigate his mercurial subjects to 
dethrone him, and establish a form of government of 
the name even of which they did not know the mean- 
ing. Such a fact she had heard denominated republi- 
canism ; but this did not prevent her from considering it 
the foulest robbery and open violation of the most sa- 
cred rights, demanding instant and thorough redress. 
Was she to see the interests of the Holy Father sacri- 
ficed to his heroic exertions in favor of real liberty ? 
Was she to behold that glorious city of Eome, so long 
the centre of Christendom, all at once become the shel- 
tering nest of a brood of malignants, whence, under the 
canting names of " Fraternity " and ^' Equality," they 
could in comparative security disseminate their pestilent 
plans for the subversion of all government ? 

However, on this point the Assembly was far from 
unanimous ; the Left and the Mountain even tried to 
have the " Eoman Republic " recognized. And though 
this attempt failed, and though the general feeling of 
the country on the question was well known, still it was 
with extreme difficulty that the executive succeeded in 
obtaining a bill for the partial and temporary occupation 
of a portion -of Italy with troops for the purpose of 
supporting the negotiations. The expedition to Ci- 
vita Vecchia was then resolved upon. A body of 
thirty-five hundred men was detached from the army 
of the Alps, and placed under the command of Gen- 
eral Oudinot. Little expecting serious resistance, they 
proceeded unsuspiciously to the walls of Rome, when, 
on the 30th of April, they were suddenly attacked and 
driven back with great loss. 
35* 



414 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

"We can still well remember tlie nniversal emotions 
of joy and chagrin with which the unexpected intelli- 
gence of this check was respectively received. In the 
Assembly the republicans could not restrain their de- 
, light. Every advantage was taken of the temporary 
depression caused by the reverse, and the ministry, who 
were not backward in trying to shift the blame off them- 
selves and the chief of the executive, were openly cen- 
sured. It was, moreover, decided to send an ambassador 
extraordinary to Civita Vecchia, with orders to enter 
into negotiations with the Triumvirs and the Roman 
Assembly, regarding the surrender of E-ome. This was 
not the reenforcement that the unhappy General Oudinot 
had demanded. 

But Louis Napoleon, far from imitating the cowardice 
of his ministers, or the indecision of the Assembly, 
wrote the following letter to the commander-in-chief of 
the expeditionary army of Italy : — 

'' My deae, General : The telegraphic intelligence 
announcing the unforeseen resistance you have met un- 
der the walls of Home has given me much pain. I had 
expected, you are aware, that the inhabitants of Rome, 
opening their eyes to evident reason, would receive with 
joy an army that came amongst them ta accomplish a 
benevolent and disinterested mission. 

'' This has not been the case ; our soldiers have been 
received as enemies. Our military honor is pledged. I 
shall not suffer it to be injured. You shall have the re- 
enforcements. Tell your soldiers that I appreciate their 
valor, and share in their trouble, and that they can 
always rely upon my support and my gratitude. 
" Receive, my dear general, &c. 

"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 415 

M. De Lesseps, the envoy extraordinary, was forth- 
with sent to Kome ; but whilst he uselessly lost a month 
expostulating with the exulting Triumvirs, who, acting 
in concert with the French revolutionists, had been 
strongly advised to gain time, the army received the 
necessary reenforcements, together with a formidable 
artillery. The commander-in-chief soon established the 
centre of his operations on the left bank of the Tiber, 
and on the 1st of June, a telegraphic despatch recalled 
M. De Lesseps and ordered General Oudinot to attack 
Kome. 

In the mean time the elections had been held on the 
18th of May, 1849, and the Legislative Assembly, con- 
sisting of seven hundred and fifty members, opened its 
session on Monday, the 28th. The moderate party 
could count four hundred and fifty votes, but the moun- 
tain had obtained many victories. One hundred and 
eighty-two representatives ranged themselves under its 
banners, and Ledru E-ollin, its chieftain, had been re- 
turned by five departments. This impetuous leader was 
so intoxicated with his success, that, it is said, he was 
often heard to exclaim on the day preceding the open- 
ing of the Assembly, " In a month I shall be dictator 
or shot ! " 

The parties, had hardly come face to face when the 
mutual attack commenced. I^ext day it was renewed 
with tenfold violence. The scene was fearful. Even 
the moderate party ran such riot in the recrimination 
and abuse of their adversaries that they provoked a re- 
monstrance from Marshal Bugeaud. The hoary head 
of the old general appeared for a moment in the tribune 
whilst he launched at the "Order party" the expression 
so full of meaning — 



416 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

*^ Gentlemen, tlie majority is bound to more modera- 
tion than the minority 1 " 

On the 7th of June the president sent in his message. 
Of this remarkable document we have room but for a 
few extracts. It thus commenced : — 

" Messieurs the Eepresentatives : The constitu- 
tion enjoins on the president of the republic to present 
to you, every year, a statement relative to the general 
condition of the affairs of the country. 

" This obligation, whilst permitting me to lay before 
you truth in its simplicity and facts in their instructive- 
ness, also allows me to speak of my conduct in the 
past and intentions for the future, and with it I now 
comply. 

^^ My election to the first magistracy of the republic 
gave rise to hopes which have not yet been fully realized. 

^^ Until the day that you assembled in this hall, the 
executive power had not enjoyed the plenitude of its 
constitutional prerogatives. In such a position it was 
difficult to proceed confidently. 

" Nevertheless I have remained faithful to my mani- 
festo. 

'^ To what have I pledged myself when accepting the 
suffrages of the nation ? 

'^ To defend society, so daringly attacked \ 

" To strengthen a wise, great, upright republic ; 

*^ To protect families, religion, property ; 

'' To promote every possible improvement and econ- 
omy ; 

" To protect the press against despotism and licen- 
tiousness j 

^^ To diminish the abuses of centralization , 

" To efface the vestiges of our civil discords i 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III, 417 

" In fine, to adopt towards foreign governments a 
policy without arrogance, as well as without weakness. 

" Time and circumstances have not permitted me to 
accomplish all these engagements ; still great progress 
has been made in this direction." 

Then, having traced a pretty full picture of the inter- 
nal and external condition of France, he announces his 
policy. Among other practical reforms, he promises a 
law regarding institutions for assisting and improving 
the condition of the laboring classes ; another regarding 
the mortgage system, and to facilitate loans ; others re- 
garding asylums for officers and private soldiers ; and 
others for the more effectual protection of the poor. 
These promises have been all kept. 

The messas^e thus concludes : — 

" Under the banner of the republic, and on the plat- 
form of the constitution, I call around me all those who 
are devoted to the safety of the country. On their as- 
sistance and intelligence I rely to enlighten me, on my 
own conscience to guide me, and on the protection of 
God to enable me to accomplish my mission." 

This document was well received throughout France, 
but it had little effect on the Mountain party. On the 
11th of June Ledru Bollin mounted the tribune, and 
accused the president and ministry of having violated 
the fifth article of the constitution by misapplying the 
Eoman expedition. Apparently the favorable moment 
for making the attack had now come ; for, the same 
morning, the partisan journals had announced that France 
in mourning was about to bring citizen Bonaparte to 
account' for the blood of her children. Odillon Barrot 
attempted a feeble reply, which only brought Ledru 
KoUin back to the charge with increased fury. Carried 



418 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

away by his vehemence, lie exceeded all bounds. " Yes/' 
he cried, "the minister who ordered an expedition to 
Eome, and who did not direct it to act for the interest 
of the Roman republic, shall henceforth bear a mark of 
blood on his forehead ! " Such language was received 
with roars of derisive laughter. But this only excited 
the orator's ardor. ^^ The constitution/' he exclaimed 
in a voice of thunder, " has been violated ! We shall 
defend it by every means in our power, even with 
arms ! " 

The challenge was repeated by the Mountaineers, 
who, with vociferous acclamations, accompanied the fiery 
tribune to his seat, and the debate was adjourned amid 
terrible tumult. 

Next day was spent in preparation on each side, and 
on the 18th the battle commenced. 

It was the demagogical journals of that day that 
sounded the tocsin of insurrection. At the head of their 
columns appeared two manifestoes. The first, signed by 
a hundred representatives, declared that the term of the 
president, the ministry, and the majority of the Assem- 
bly had been brought to an end by the Roman expedi- 
tion, and called on the National Guard, the army, and 
the people to rise in arms. The second, emanating from 
the journalists, was thus conceived : — 

" The president of the republic and the ministers are 
without the pale of the constitution. 

" That part of the Assembly which, by voting, has 
rendered itself their accomplice, is also without the pale 
of the constitution. 

^' National Guards, arise ! 

^^ Let the workshops be closed ! 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 419 

^^Our brethren of the army! remember that you 
are citizens^ and, as such, that your first duty is to de- 
fend the constitution. 

^' Let the entire people rise ! " 

Is it necessary to give the details of this sorry day ? 
Our readers can hardly have forgotten the incidents of 
this pacific, this legal demonstration. An immense col- 
umn of the "^ entire people/' bearing all kinds of social- 
ist emblems, not forgetting the red flag, started from the 
Chateau d'Eau, and advanced along the Boulevards — 
meeting, however, generally, only with a disdainful si- 
lence. Suddenly, at the crossing of the Rue de la Paix, 
General Changarnier, followed by four battalions and 
eight squadrons, cut the unwieldy column in two, and 
dispersed the " orderly " citizens through the neighbor- 
ing streets, where, at last throwing off the mask of 
^^ legality," they ran around, crying, " To arms ! " But 
it was all a burlesque. Every one, except those imme- 
diately concerned, kept within doors, or if any of the 
National Guards did take arms, it was to range them- 
selves at once under the government standards. The 
leaders of the insurrection, Ledru Rollin, Considerant, 
&c., held a meeting in the conservatory to establish a 
provisional government; but they were soon compelled 
to make their escape through a window. They fled to 
England, leaving their unfortunate accomplices exposed 
to the vengeance of the law. 

General Changarnier was completely successful in his 
measures of suppression. By four o'clock every thing 
was quiet, and the president, accompanied by his staff, 
rode along the whole length of the Boulevards, loudly 
cheered by the people, who were delighted to have es- 



420 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

caped^ almost bloocllessly, a repetition of the terrible 
scenes of June^ 1848. Next morning the following 
proclamation was to be seen all over Paris : — 

" The President of the Republic to the French People. 

'' Some factious men presume once more to lift the 
standard of revolt against a legitimate government — le- 
gitimate, because it is the production of universal suf- 
frage. They accuse me of having violated the consti- 
tution — me, who have patiently endured for six months 
all their sneers, their calumnies, their defiances. 

" The majority of the Assembly itself is the constant 
theme of their outrages. 

" The accusation brought against me is only a pre- 
text. Of this the proof is, that those who attack me 
now persecuted me with the same hatred, and with the 
same injustice, at the time when the people of Paris 
nominated me as their representative, and the people of 
Prance as president of their republic. 

" This system of agitation maintains a state of uneasi- 
ness and mistrust that entails misery. 

"^ It must cease. 

^^ It is time for the good to take courage, and the 
wicked to tremble. 

" The republic has no enemies more implacable than 
those men who, by perpetuating disorder, compel us to 
change Prance into a vast camp, and our projects for 
amelioration and progress into preparations for defence. 

" Elected by the nation, the cause which I defend is 
your own. It is that of your family as of your prop- 
erty ; of the poor as of the rich ; that of civilization, in 
whole and in part. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 421 

^' In my efforts to render it triumphant nothing shall 
force me to recoil. 

"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

Next day telegraphic news came that the insurrection 
at Paris was only part of the vast conspiracy which was 
spread throughout France. At Lyons the slaughter had 
been terrific before the flag was pulled down : the battle 
lasted two days and two nights in succession ; forty 
thousand workmen having sworn to bury themselves 
and their families in the general wreck sooner than sur- 
render. Of such awful, yet totally fruitless effusions 
of human blood, it grieves us to think how often the 
noble soil of France has been the scene. Except at 
Lyons, however, all the anarchical attempts made, at this 
time had proved completely abortive. 

On the very day, the loth of June, that the red re- 
publicans had so signally failed in Paris, General Oudi- 
not, before resuming operations against Pome, once more 
summoned the " republic " to open the gates of the city 
to the French army. But Mazzini, every day expecting 
co7isoling tidings from France, had no thought of sur- 
render ; and even when the discouraging news of Ledru 
Pollin's failure reached him, he inspirited his followers 
with an energy not always attending a better cause. For 
seventeen days and seventeen nights the fire continued 
on both sides, and still the besiegers w^ould not dis- 
charge a bomb on the city. 

" The president," wrote the minister of war to Gen- 
eral Oudinot, *^ intends that the monuments of Rome, 
belonging to the admiration of all civilized people, shall 
be honored and protected : act so, that art and history 
36 



422 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

may not have occasion to deplore the ravage inseparable 
from a siege." 

When it was seen what would be the result of the 
last assault by the bastion at St. Pancras gate, the presi- 
dent wrote again to the commander-in-chief, "If you 
are forced to carry the city by assault, remind your sol- 
diers that they are not at war with the inhabitants of 
Rome, but with their oppressors and their real enemies. 
Burn more powder if necessary. Put off the capture 
of the city a day or two, to spare the blood of our brave 
fellows." 

At last, Mazzini and Garibaldi, seeing they could 
hold out no longer, fled with three thousand followers, 
on the 3d of July, and the French, entering the Eter- 
nal City, immediately proclaimed the reestablishment of 
the Papal authority. 



C-HAPTER XXX. 

Affairs in Rome. — Letter of Louis JSfapoleon on the Subject. 
— Resignation of the Mfjiister of Public Instruction. — 
Adjournment of the Assembly. — State of Parties. — ln~ 
creasing Popularity of Louis Nafoleon among the Army . 
and the People. — Tlie Insurgent of June. — Railroad Fes- 
tivities. — The European Powers. — Return of the Assem- 
bly. — Debate on the Roman Letter. — Difficulty of the 
Ministers. — Duel between Thiers and Bixio. — Victor 
Hugo. — Louis Napoleon dismisses his Ministers. 

Though the authority of Pius IX. was now pro- 
claimed in Pome, many circumstances prevented him 
from returning immediately to his dominions. In the 
mean time, he intrusted the care of government to a 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 423 

commission consisting of three cardinals, named Casoni, 
Alfierij and Delia GcDga. These commissioners, at no 
time well disposed to republicanism, at least such, repub- 
licanism as they had hitherto witnessed, and, naturally 
enough, strongly prejudiced in favor of old established 
customs, moreover, horrified at the excesses they had 
lately seen committed under the name of liberty, now 
thought it their duty to go almost to the other extreme. 
They dismissed all the functionaries appointed since the 
Pope's flight, and would have declared the paper money 
issued by the republican government valueless, but for 
the intervention of Pius IX., who could not bear to see 
the misery to which numbers of poor people holding 
those bills were certain to be reduced by such a meas- 
nre. However, though declared entitled to legal circu- 
lation, they were depreciated by a third. 

Louis Napoleon, hearing of these and other steps of a 
more reactionary nature taken by the commissioners, 
wrote the following letter to Colonel Ney, his orderly 

officer at Kome : — 

" Elysee National, Aug. 18, 1849. 

^^ My dear Ney : The French republic has not sent 
an army to Pome to smother Italian liberty, but, on 
the contrary, to regulate it by defending it from its own 
excesses, and to give it a solid basis by restoring to the 
pontifical throne the prince who had boldly placed him- 
self in the front rank of all useful reforms. 

"I learn with pain that the intentions of the Holy 
Pather, and our own action, remain sterile in the pres- 
ence of hostile passions and influences. As a basis for 
the Pope's return people want proscription and tyranny. 
Tell General Postolan from me, that he is to allow no 
action to be performed under the shadow of the tricolor 
that could distort the nature of our interYention. 



424 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

^^I thus sum up tlie reestablishment of the Pope's 
temporal power : general amnesty, secularization of the 
administration. Code Napoleon, and liberal government. 

" I was personally hurt, when reading the proclama- 
tion of the cardinals, to see that there was no mention 
made of the name of France, or of the sufferings of our 
brave soldiers. 

" Every insult inflicted on our flag, or on our uniform, 
pierces me to the heart ; and I beseech you to have it 
known publicly, that if France does not sell her services, 
she wishes, at least, to get credit for her sacrifices and 
self-denial. When our armies made the tour of Eu- 
rope, they left every where, as a trace of their passage, 
the destruction of feudal abuses, and the germs of liber- 
ty ; it shall not be said that in 1849 a French army 
could have acted differently or produced other results. 

" Tell the general to thank the army in my name for 
its noble conduct. I am grieved to learn that, even 
physically, it has not been treated as it deserves. Noth- 
ing should be neglected to have our troops comfortably 
established. 

^' Receive, my dear Ney, the assurance of my sincere 
friendship. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

This rather Napoleonic letter created surprise and 
trouble. M. Falloux, minister of public instruction, a 
man of talent and high personal worth, thinking that it 
would be attended with bad consequences for the inter- 
ests of the church, resigned. However, it had the effect 
of diminishing ultimate proceedings, and the Motu Pro- 
j>rio document of Pius IX., soon after arriving in France^ 
satisfied the demands of the republican president. 

Cholera had been very rife all the summer in Paris ; 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 425 

among its victims were Marshal Bugeaud and several 
other members of the Assembly. The representatives 
consequently, deeming it prudent to suspend their ses- 
sions, adjourned from the 11th of August to the 1st of 
October. Daring the recess, however, they left a com- 
mission of permanence behind them, consisting of twenty- 
five members charged to represent the legislative power 
in their absence. 

Since the last elections, the president had been on 
good terms with the moderate party, particularly with 
its chiefs. They had constantly supported and defended 
the government, and even occasionally showed it much 
friendship in questions of general interest. But they 
carefully avoided, at the same time, taking any meas- 
ures that might strengthen its authority or widen its 
basis. They dreaded nothing so much as to see the 
elective republic consolidated for the profit of a Bona- 
parte. On this point there was a perfect understanding 
between the partisans of Henry V. and those of the 
house of Orleans. It was only a parliamentary truce, 
then, that existed between the two parties, and they had 
momentarily coalesced only to attack socialism, and '' to 
close the gulf of revolutions." 

But Louis "^fapoleon, it cannot be denied, was pos- 
sessed of a power outside the Assembly, which jealousy, 
well or ill founded, could not destroy. This was the 
stronghold he had taken of the affection* of the people 
and the army. He neglected no opportunity to increase 
it. He held reviews, and distributed crosses of honor 
to old soldiers ; he visited barracks and hospitals ; he 
informed himself minutely of all the details of military 
administration ; in a word, he took the state of the army 
under his especial care. 
36* 



426 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

He attended to the people -with, the same solicitude. 
He particularly encouraged the building of industrial 
establishments on a grand scale, in which the poorer 
classes might enjoy what they could not find elsewhere — 
lodging, healthy, airy, "and clean. The interest he took, 
however, in these establishments, did not always turn to 
their advantage. He had encouraged the erection of a 
building of this nature in a beautiful situation on a 
rising ground in the immediate outskirts of Paris, and 
had subscribed for a considerable sum in the shares. 
But the appearance of his name at the head of the list 
of subscribers exerted an unlucky influence on the 
bankers and capitalists ; they refused to have any thing 
to do with such an undertaking for fear of increasing 
the popularity of Louis Napoleon. '' Besides," said 
they, " it is a socialist project ; such industrial establish- 
ments would furnish central positions ready made for 
insurrections. The working classes can do without 
them, as they have managed, so far, to do without pha- 
lansteries." The consequence was, that the money gave 
out before the walls had risen a foot from the ground. 
The president had not the means of completing the 
building from his own resources, and, in order to do so, 
was compelled to wait until his own authority was 
greater, and until the terrible monster of socialism had 
not only lost all real power, but also all its paralyzing 
effects on the «ninds of men. 

It was a frequent custom of Louis Napoleon to leave 
the Elysee, accompanied by a young orderly officer, 
named Fleury, and proceed on foot to the Faubourg St. 
Antoine, the poorest quarter of Paris. There he entered 
the workshops ; questioned the foremen ; listened to the 
complaints of the workmen about their precarious con- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 427 

dition, their wages, the stoppage of their work. He 
generally went incognito, but he was often recognized, 
and always made himself known by his generosity when 
departing. 

One day he entered a wall-paper factory which he 
knew contained a great number of workmen connected 
with the secret societies, and compromised in the events 
of June. The walls were in fact covered over with 
republican portraits, the triangle, the level, the red cap, 
and other revolutionary emblems. 

Louis Napoleon, pretending not to notice these em- 
bellishments, advanced, but was received with coldness 
and defiant looks, for his name had passed rapidly from 
mouth to mouth as soon as he had made his appearance. 
Affecting no apprehension of his real danger, he tried to 
enter into conversation with the men. He questioned 
them about their own work especially, and so won on 
them that he was soon told that this branch of business, 
which had suffered more than any other in 1848, was 
now beginning to recover, and already furnished employ- 
ment for half the hands. 

"We must only have a little patience," said he. 
"The national workshops did much injury, especially to 
ornamental work such as yours. I promise you a de- 
cided improvement before the end of the year. I am 
engaged in giving ^a start to the building business, which 
must animate every other. This winter you shall not be 
idle, my friends." 

The women of the neighborhood, the wives, sisters, 
and daughters of the workmen, hearing of the president's 
arrival, here ran in to see him, and were enchanted with 
the gracious reception they obtained. They surrounded 
him eagerly ; and now he found no difficulty in obtain- 
ing answers. 



428 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

But perceiying a young man wlio kept himself liaugli- 
tily apart, as if unwilling to be obliged to show any 
politeness, Louis Napoleon beckoned to him to approach. 
The man colored, hesitated an instant, and then unwill- 
ingly advanced. He had a wooden leg. 

" You have served in Africa ? " asked the .prince. 
The young man bit his lips, and made no reply. 

^^ Ah, it is the effect of an accident then," said Louis 
Napoleon, regretting to have embarrassed the young 
man by asking him to declare the cause of an infirmity 
which his silence plainly enough referred to the unhappy 
days of June. ^^ How old are you ?" 

"Twenty-six, and I have a mother to support." 

Here an old lady, neatly but plainly dressed, forced 
her way through the throng. 

" My prince," said she, with simplicity, " I am his 
mother. He is not a bad boy, only they have put such 
"Ugly notions into his head " 

" But he supports you with his labor," interrupted 
Louis Napoleon, to prevent her going further. " Have 
you no other resources, madam ? " 

" My poor husband was killed in those affairs of June," 
she replied, wiping her eyes. 

" That horrible battle of June has had many victims," 
said Louis Napoleon, unwilling to carry on further con- 
versation with a woman whom he took for the widow 
of an insurgent. 

" My husband did his duty," she added, sobbing. 
" He was serving in the Eepublican Guards when he 
fell to rise no more, at the attack of the great barricade 
of the Faubourg." 

" Your husband died in the ranks ? Was he an old 
soldier ? " 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 429 

^^ Thirty years in the service, my prince." 

'' Commandant Fleury, take the name and address of 
this brave woman. This affair must be looked into. It 
is only just that the state adopt the children of its de- 
fenders. Your son ? " 

*^ O Monseigneur/' cried the widow, " when my hus- 
band received the ball, my son was at the other side of 
the barricade ! " 

^' "Well, he received a ball too, and that has not been 
his greatest punishment. But every thing is forgotten 
except the services of your husband. I shall remember 
them." 

He had left the building when he heard a commo- 
tion in the crowd behind him. Turning, he perceived 
the old lady leading her son by the hand. 

'' O prince, pardon him," she exclaimed. '' You 
have corrected him. He is ashamed of what he has 
done. It was all bad advice. He promised, the un- 
happy boy, to do you an injury, and now he is ready to 
die for you." 

The president kept his word with the poor woman, 
and paid her a pension out of his own private purse. 

Out of this incident a very poetic version was manu- 
factured in the Faubourg St. Antoine, which ran as fol- 
lows : — 

'^ An insurgent of June had sworn the death of the 
president of the republic. The prince was informed of 
it. He went up to the man, who was already preparing 
to strike him, and said, ^ Do not prevent me from doing 
the good the people expect from me : only two years 
are required to accomplish my mission. These two 
years I ask of you in the name of France. Then, do 
what you will.' 



43(> LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

" And the insurgent of June/' said the poetry, " threw 
himself at the feet of Louis Napoleon, renouncing his 
frightful project, and crying ' Vive VEmpereur / ' " 

But it was the opening of the different lines of rail- 
roads connecting the capital with the provinces that fur- 
nished Louis Napoleon with an unanswerable pretext 
for entering into communication with the people that 
had elected him, and that now relied on him for the 
safety of France. The inauguration of the railroads 
from Paris to Chartres was the first of these popular 
festivals in which the president gave public expression 
to discourses foreshadowing the secrets of his policy 
and the promises of his government. All along the 
way, at the different stations, he was received with every 
demonstration of joy. At the banquet, attended by 
more than five hundred guests, in the course of a speech, 
returning thanks to the town for his flattering reception, 
he said, • — 

" It is at Chartres that St. Bernard came to preach the 
second crusade, that magnificent idea of the middle ages, 
which rescued France from intestine troubles, and placed 
the cultivation of faith far above the cultivation of mere- 
ly material interests. 

^' It is at Chartres, too, that Henry lY. was crowned ; 
it is here that he put an end to those ten years of civil 
war, by entreating religion to bless the return of peace 
and concord. 

" Well, to-day, again, it is to faith and conciliation 
that we must appeal — to faith, which supports us and 
enables us to bear all the difficulties of our state ,• to 
conciliation, which increases our strength, and gives us 
hope of a better future." 

At Amiens, where he went to distribute standards to 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 431 

the National Guards of tlie department of Somme, 
though it "was a legitimist city, he was received with 
equal enthusiasm. When the bishop met him at the 
great door of the cathedral, he addressed the prelate in 
the following words : — 

'* Monseigneur, I thank you for the prayers you are 
about to offer up to the Almighty in my behalf. Such 
assistance is more than ever necessary now, that Heaven 
may come to my aid, and permit me to secure the happi- 
ness of Erance. Yes, I say it aloud, to secure the hap- 
piness of our common country, that is my only ambition, 
that shall be the constant aim of all my efforts." He 
sent three thousand francs to the Benevolent Society. 

Whilst at Amiens he thought of paying that visit to 
Ham of which we have already spoken. 

He was accompanied by three companions of his captiv- 
ity ; General Montholon, Dr Couneau, and Charles Thelin, 

He was heartily welcomed in the town which he 
pleasantly called " an old acquaintance of his," and soon 
went to examine the prison. He looked once more 
with much interest on the yard, the ramparts, and the 
little garden which he had so long cultivated, and which 
the prison people still carefully attended. Dr. Cou- 
neau's chamber was at that time occupied by Bou-Maza, 
the famous Arab chief. The prince set him at liberty in 
the name of France. 

'^ My lord," exclaimed Bou-Maza, much excited, and 
in his Oriental style, " in this prison the walls speak ; 
they have a thousand voices to chant your glory. They 
have also taught me to love you without knowing you, 
by telling me of your greatness of soul in misfortune, 
which, like the crucible, purifies the gold of human 
wisdom. Make use of this gold, prince, to form for 



432 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

We have already given an extract of Louis Napoleon's 
speech to the mayor and municipal authorities. It was 
from this visit to Ham that were dated the first real ru- 
mors of a contemplated coup (Tetat, which thencefor- 
ward began to circulate steadily, and were occasionally 
renewed by various circumstances. 

At Angers the president of the republic was thus 
alluded to by the bishop at the blessing of the loco- 
motives : — 

" We shall implore the Lord to bless France, to bless 
her elect, and to shed his light on the councillors that 
surround her choice, and second his efforts to bring back 
to the bosom of our dear country rest, tranquillity, and 
happiness." In the prince's reply to the mayor's ad- 
dress, he said, — 

" Gentlemen : whilst passing through your city, amid 
the acclamations of the inhabitants, I asked myself what 
I had done to merit so flattering, so enthusiastic a re- 
ception. 

" It is not merely because I am the nephew of the 
man who put an end to our civil broils that you receive 
me with such kindness. I cannot do for you what the 
emperor has done. I have neither his genius nor his 
power. But what explains your acclamations is the fact 
that I represent the system of moderation and concilia- 
tion which has been inaugurated by the republic ; this 
system, which consists in mooring in France, not that 
savage liberty that permits every one to do as he likes, 
but the liberty of a civilized people, which permits every 
one to do whatever is not prejudicial to the community. 

" Under all governments there are, I know, oppress- 
ors and oppressed ; but as long as I am president of the 
republic, there shall be no party oppressed.^^ - 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 433 

At Tours, alluding to the rumors of a projected coup 
d^etat, he said, — 

*^ It is pretended at Paris that the government medi- 
tates some enterprise similar to the 18th Brumaire. But 
are we now in the same circumstances ? Have foreign 
armies invaded our territories ? Is France torn with 
civil convulsions ? Are eighty thousand families in exile ? 
Ai'e there three hundred thousand families outlawed by 
edicts regarding the suspected ? In short, is law without 
vigor, and authority without strength ? No, we are not 
yet in a condition that req^uires such heroic remedies." 

It may be noticed here that he does not condemn a 
coujp d'etat ; he only says that circumstances at present 
render such an " heroic remedy " unnecessary. 

At Eouen the Mayor, in his address, actually passed 
a public eulogy on the imperial government, and the 
happy consequences resulting from the 18th Brumaire. 
" In the name of the city of Eouen," he concluded, 
'^ whose industrious population owes so much to Napo- 
leon, I offer a toast to that great memory which on the 
10th of December blazed out for us like a lighthouse in 
a storm. To Napoleon ! To his nephew ! — who is 
also called to save France and civilization, and who so 
well justifies our best hopes." 

Sometimes, however, as if to vary the matter, he was 
obliged to listen to language somewhat different. The 
mayor of Havre, for instance, advised him to imitate 
Washington rather than Napoleon. But this was very 
seldom. 

At the industrious manufacturing town of Elbeuf he 
was thus addressed by a blouse-clad workman, speaking 
for his comrades. 

" Monsieur le President : You do not like long dis- 
37 



434 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

courses, and we operatives cannot make them. So your 
wishes and our abilities square wonderfully^ Permit us, 
then, only to express in a few words how gratifying 
your visit is to us, Mr. President, and to say that it fills 
us with joy. 

'' On the 10th of December our shops were deserted, 
our sufferings were unheard of. The national will 
places you at the head of the state, and this happy inspi- 
ration brings back, together with order and confidence, 
that industrial activity which enables us to live. Labor 
has already produced some improvement in our condi- 
tion. We thank you for this, Mr. President, and we 
trust in you for the future, for we know that our lot 
affects you, and deeply engages your attention. 

^^In return for what you have done, for what you 
will do, accept, Mr. President, our profound gratitude, 
and rely, we beg of you, on our hands and our hearts." 

The prince, taking the orator's hand, replied, — 

" I am much moved by the words which you address 
me in the name of the operatives of Elbeuf. You do 
not deceive yourselves in supposing that the working 
classes possess my deepest solicitude ; my efforts shall 
be constantly directed to improve their condition." 

At Epernay the venerable Bishop of Chalons used 
these words, — 

^' Blessed be yourself, monseigneur, you who take so 
much care of us, and who do such great things for us 
every day. The recollection of these shall live forever, 
particularly that of the magnificent expedition to Pome, 
of which you were the chief author, and which has 
filled Prance and all the Christian world with joy." 

At Sens, also, the mayor praised the emperor and the 
empire in a rather emphatic discourse, which concluded 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 435 

with these words : " There are memories which never 
die." But Louis Napoleon, not wishing to tread on 
such dangerous ground, confined his speech to expres- 
sions of his gratitude to the department of Yonne, for 
having chosen him, though an exile, and forbidden to 
return, in the elections of 1848. 

On the whole it was quite evident that the prince had 
lost none of his popularity. 

About this time Count Persigny passed through the 
court of Germany on some secret mission. It was, per- 
haps, to sound that country as to its real sentiments 
regarding the state of things in France. The different 
powers of Europe, hardly yet recovered from the shocks 
of 1848, though regarding France for some time with a 
suspicious eye, now began to recognize the exertions of 
Louis Napoleon for the establishment of a universal 
peace. In fact, generally speaking, a higher opinion of 
his abilities seemed to be entertained by foreign nations 
than by the chiefs of the great parties at home. The 
royalists continued to believe that the hero of Strasburg 
and Boulogne was little short of a madman, and the 
republicans could not imagine the possibility of a prince 
being really a formidable personage. 

At last the recess was ended, and the Assembly re- 
sumed its session on the 1st of October, 1849. Busi- 
ness commenced with a proposition of M. Creton to 
annul the decrees that interdicted the return of the 
Bourbon family to France. To this. Prince Napoleon 
said he had not the least objection, only he added that 
the same favor should be extended to the insurgents of 
June, "transported without judgment," But though 
this attempt to estabhsh a connection between the ban- 
ished princes and the anarchists caused much confusion 



436 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

in the Assembly, it was soon forgotten in a new dispute 
that had most important consequences. 

We have ah-eady seen that Louis Napoleon's letter to 
Colonel Ney at Rome had given much displeasure to 
many good men. But besides those sincerely offended, 
many members of the order party, thinking it a favorable 
moment to remind the nephew of the emperor that he 
was only president of a republic, had concluded, since 
he had displayed his flag, that they should display theirs. 
The chiefs of this party therefore required ministers 
either to withdraw this letter to M. Edgard Ney or offi- 
cially disavow it. The ministry were in a difficulty. 
They had no desire to quarrel with the government or 
with the Assembly. They made all sorts of efforts then 
to escape either alternative. Some pretended to attach 
slight importance to a letter which they wished to pass 
off as merely a little indiscretion of private correspond- 
ence ; others said that it was signed by no minister, and 
consequently could not be disavowed. The prince tried 
to encourage them by writing them a new letter ; but 
this they considered too pretentious, and almost treated 
it with contempt, little thinking that such conduct might 
drive him to dispense with their services altogether. On 
the 18th of October the great discussion came on. M. 
De Tocqueville attempted to explain matters, but did not 
succeed. He was immediately followed by a republican 
orator, M. Mathieu de la Drome, who pretended to sup- 
port the president against his adversaries. " Somebody 
rnust defend this letter," he went on. ""Well, I will 
undertake the task. In this we cannot be suspected. 
It is not we who have by turns covered the president 
with praises and outrages. It is not we who declared 
that the nomination of Louis Napoleon would be a dis- 
grace to France." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 487 

'^ It is M. Thiers ! " cried several voices on the Left. 

*^ I hear these words attributed to the honorable M. 
Thiers/' resumed the speaker^ turning round to M. 
Thiers' seat ; '' if he denies them, of course it settles the 
question at once." 

'^ I do deny them ! " exclaimed M. Thiers, without 
rising. 

^' Between M. Thiers, who denies, and M. Bixio, who 
affirms," continued the speaker, ^^the Assembly shall 
decide." And he went on with his oration ; but long 
before it was ended, the two representatives in question 
had gone out to settle the dispute by a resort to arms. 
It was useless to attempt to reconcile them. M. Thiers 
insisted that he had not said what M. Bixio as strongly 
insisted he had heard him say. To be sure M. Bixio 
did not want to kill M. Thiers, and M. Thiers would 
never forgive himself if he killed M. Bixio. The sec- 
onds were equally fraternal. The battle would prove 
nothing. Still, how else adjust the dispute ? The 
pistols were loaded ; the champions set in their places ; 
each fired twice without hitting his adversary ; they ex- 
pected a third round, when the seconds interfered, and 
said that matters should stop there. It is reported that 
M. Bixio then said to M. Thiers, — 

'' It is possible that you may have forgotten. As for 
me, I remember. So it is only a question of memory." 

*^It is possible," M. Thiers is said to have replied, 
'^ that you did not understand me. As for me, I know 
what I meant. So it is only a question of interpre- 
tation." 

Wondering that they had not seen the force of such 
simple explanations before, the honorable representatives, 
now perfectly satisfied, returned safe and sound to the 
37* 



438 ^ LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

Assembly, and took their seats for tlie rest of the discus- 
sion, which^ however, by this time had wandered from 
the siibjectj and become philosophical. 

Next day the dispute was renewed. But night had 
brought reflection. The majority had not expected to 
see the president so strongly sustained by the Mountain 
party, whom they well knew to be his implacable ene- 
mies. It was determined, then, that they should not 
abandon the government. During the debate, to the 
surprise of many, General Cavaignac arose, and gave a 
remarkable testimony of his sympathy with the president 
of the republic. 

^' I hope," said he, ^^ that a year's reserve shall have 
given me the privilege of expressing myself clearly with- 
out having my sentiments suspected. "Well, I declare 
it freely, I have found in the letter of the president of 
the republic the expression of sentiments the most pa- 
triotic and most w^orthy, I will not only say of him who 
wrote it, but also of the great nation that has chosen him 
for her first magistrate. I render complete and respectful 
homage to the thought that has inspired this letter." 

This same day was also signalized for the secession of 
Victor Hugo, the famous poet, from the ranks of the 
moderate party. His former friendship, or at least 
liking, for the president of the republic, all at once 
changed into the fiercest personal hostility. The origin 
of this revolution is not well known. It is said, indeed, 
that M. Victor Hugo expected to be appointed minister 
of public instruction, but that the prince considered him 
too stubbornly attached to his own ways of thinking to 
become a practical minister. It is also reported that 
Louis Napoleon once said, — 

" M. Victor Hugo, whenever he addresses me^ always 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 439 

puts on a very patronizing air : this I could understand 
if I made verses, or pieces for the theatre." 

Whether the president ever uttered this mot or not, 
it is at least certain that something had occurred to kindle 
that terrible resentment in the heart of the poet which 
first blazed forth so violently that day, and has never 
since been extinguished. He ascended the tribune, and 
at once launched out into an eloquent strain of fierce 
invective against the letter and its author. He was vo- 
ciferously cheered by the Mountain, who, of course, were 
extravagant in their applause of the great speaker they 
had so unexpectedly gained. 

The illustrious Montalembert could not let such an 
open desertion pass without a bitter rebuke. 

" Gentlemen," he exclaimed, taking his place in the 
tribune, ^' the discourse you have just heard ha^ already 
received the reward, or rather the punishment, it merited, 
in the applauses with which it has been listened to." 

The debate ended by a vote of four hundred and sixty- 
nine to one hundred and eighty in favor of the govern- 
ment ; but the first result was a determination of Louis 
Napoleon to get rid of his ministry. He deeply re- 
spected, indeed, the ability and honesty of Odillon Bar- 
rot, and would have him form a new Cabinet ; but M. 
Barrot would not act without ]\I. Dufaure. On the 31st 
of October, the following message — a significant doc- 
ument — was read by the president of the Assembly, 
and announced the reasons inducing Louis Napoleon to 
adopt this course. 

" Elysee, October 31, X849. 

'^ Monsieur Le President : In the present moment- 
ous state of afiairs, the different powers of the state can 



440 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

maintain tliat harmony "wliich should prevail amongst 
them only by entertaining a mutual confidence^ and ex- 
plaining themselves frankly to each other. To give an. 
example of this sincerity, I wish to acquaint the Assem- 
bly with the reasons that have determined me to change 
the ministry, and to separate myself from men whose 
eminent services I take pleasure in proclaiming, and to 
whom, personally, I have pledged my friendship and 
gratitude. 

'^^In order to strengthen the republic, menaced by 
anarchy from so many sides ; to insure order more effi- 
ciently th^n has been done hitherto ; to maintain abroad 
the name of France at the height of her renown, — men 
are needed, who, animated by a patriotic devote dness^ 
comprehend the necessity of a direction single and firm, 
and of a clearly-defined policy, who do not compromise 
power by any irresolution, who are as much filled with 
the conviction of my peculiar responsibility as of their 
own — men of action as well as words. 

" For nearly a year I have given many proofs of self- 
denial, in order that there might be no misunderstanding 
with regard to my real sentiments. Without rancor 
against any individuality, or against any party, I have 
allowed men of the most contrary opinions to arrive at 
power, but without obtaining the happy result which I 
expected from that union. In place of effecting a fusion 
of different shades of opinion, I only arrived at a neu- 
tralization of forces. 

" The unity of views and intentions was interfered 
with, and fthe spirit of conciliation taken for weakness. 
Scarcely had the dangers of the street been got over, 
when the old parties were seen again to elevate their 
colors, revive their rivalries, and alarm the country by 
sowing disquietude. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 441 

'^ In tlie midst of this confusion, Prance, uneasy be- 
cause slie sees no guidance, seeks the hand, the will, the 
standard of the elect of the 10th of December. But 
that will cannot be felt unless there be entire commu- 
nity of ideas, of views, and of convictions between the 
president and his ministers, and unless the Assembly 
itself join in the national thought, of which the election 
of the executive power has been the expression. 

'•^ A whole system triumphed on the 10th of Decem- 
ber, for the name of ISTapoleon is a complete programme 
in itself. It means, at home, order, authority, religion, 
the welfare of the people ; abroad, national dignity. 
It is this policy, inaugurated by my election, that I wish 
to make triumph, with the support of the Assembly and 
that of the people. I wish to merit the confidence of 
the people by maintaining the Constitution to which I 
have svvorn. I wish, by my loyalty, my perseverance, 
and my firmness, to inspire the country with such confi- 
dence that affairs may resume their course, and that faith 
may be had in the future. 

*^The letter of a constitution has certainly a great 
influence on the destiny of the country ; but the manner 
in which it is executed has perhaps even more. The 
longer or shorter duration of power contributes vastly 
to the stability of things ; but it is also by displaying 
ideas and principles that a government can succeed in 
persuading society to reassure itself. 

" Let us strengthen authority then, without disturb- 
ing real liberty. Let us calm apprehension by boldly 
subduing evil passions, and by giving all noble instincts 
a useful direction. Let us strengthen the religious 
principle, without abandoning any of the conquests of 
the revolution, and we shall save the country, in spite 



442 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

of all tLe parties, tlie ambitions, and even the imperfec- 
tions which our institutions may contain." 

Thus fell Louis Napoleon's first ministry. A list of 
their successors was published in the evening's Moni- 
teur. The secret had been so well kept that no one 
knew their names up to the last moment, and even many 
diplomatic personages had been quite confident that 
Marrast and Cavaignac would be among the number. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Proceedings of the Tear 1849-50. — The new Ministry. — 
Montalemherf s Speech. — The " Raft^ — Progress of So- 
cialism. — New Elections. — Socialists triumphant in Paris. 
— Anger of the Assembly. — Debates on the Restriction of 
Universal Suffrage. — Tlie " Vile Multitude^' — TJiree 
Million Voters disfranchised. — Prosperous Condition of 
France. — " -4 Year Ago." — Proposal to increase the Presi- 
dent^ s Salary passed after strong Opposition. — Adjourn- 
ment of the Assembly. — President^ s Tour through the East 
and West. — Famous Discourse at Lyons. — Plots of the 
Royalists. — The Visits to Claremont. — The Congress of 
Wisbaden. — Barthelemy Circular. — What of the Consti- 
tion % 

The leader of the new ministry was Ferdinand, Odil- 
lon Barrot's brother, the talented advocate, of whose 
eloquent speech at the Bologne trial we have already 
spoken. A coolness between the brothers, though 
generally reported at the time, does not, however, ap- 
pear to have resulted from this change. Odillon had 
been earnestly requested by Louis Napoleon to continue 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 443 

at tlie head of the cabinet;, as ah-eady mentioned, and 
his refusal had been influenced, perhaps, as much by ill 
health as by his political considerations. The president 
had then written him an autograph letter, in which he 
expressed his regret for his absence from the new 
ministry, and assured him that his spirit would still pre- 
side there, as Ferdinand, the premier, could find no bet- 
ter example to imitate than that set him by his elder 
brother. 

A great change was immediately felt in the govern- 
ment. The new ministers were, indeed, rather regard- 
ed with repugnance by the Assembly ; but the president, 
by assuming the total responsibility on himself, had 
freed them from apprehensions of not being sustained 
by the majority, and now, at last, felt himself at liberty 
to act according to his own inspirations. 

Still the new cabinet aimed at propitiation rather than 
independence in their programme. Using nearly the 
same language as that of their predecessors on a similar 
occasion, and breathing a very diflerent tone from that 
of the message, they besought the support of the major- 
ity by appealing to the union of all political shades for 
the safety of France. For some time the majority did 
not appear unwilling to support them. The parties sus- 
tained each other very powerfully in the passage of sev- 
eral important laws. One of these prohibited teachers 
from opening schools at pleasure ; for since 1848, tam- 
pering with the tender minds of youth had been found 
to be a most eflicient branch of socialist propagandism. 
Another law was passed, after a severe contest of two 
months, which, recognizing the right of the religious 
element to take its part in education, deprived the infi- 
del university of its monopoly, • and permitted, as well 



444 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

in tlie supreme councils of public instruction as in the 
academic councils of each department, a certain number 
of clergymen. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, to take 
their seats beside the representatives of the magistracy 
and of the learned bodies. Another measure, in which 
the ministry was supported by the majority, was the re- 
peal of the law abolishing the tax on liquors, that had 
been so maliciously passed the previous year by the 
Constituent Assembly. 

The following extract from a speech of Montalembert's 
gives a good idea of the feelings with which many hon- 
orable men belonging to the royalist party at that time 
regarded the government : — 

" The honorable M. Thiers will permit me to say 
that we suffered shipwreck, he and I, in February, 1848. 
We belonged to the crev/, when we sailed together in 
that splendid ship the Constitutional Monarchy. Yes, 
when we sailed in that vessel which had borne VAth 
so much honor, for thirty-four years, the destinies 
and the banner of France — when we sailed together in 
that vessel, not knowing, or hardly knowing each other, 
we could and should have disputed the right to stand at 
the helm. But the storm burst, the pilot was flung into 
the sea, the vessel foundered, we were perishing, when 
Providence permitted him and me to meet together 
again on a raft. I call the present government a raft. 
I do not know towards what shores it bears us, but I 
avow it, though I regret the vessel, I bless the raft." 

In fact some sort of union between the parties was 
necessary, as an act of self-defence, in the face of the 
enormous progress socialism was making throughout 
the country. Every day furnished fresh sources of ac- 
rimony. In November,- 1849, the principal leaders of 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 445 

the last conspiracy, that of the 13th of June, were 
brought to trial, and nearly all condemned to exile or 
transportation. They generally made no defence, re- 
garding themselves as the victims of reaction. Thirty 
representatives were among the number. 

The vacancies thus left in the Assembly were to be 
filled up ; the elections were to take place in March, 
1850, and the hopes of appointing their respective can- 
didates stimulated each party to the most extraordinary 
efforts. All France watched the contest with anxiety. 
In the excitement some disturbances occurred now and 
then in the capital and in the provinces. One of these 
took place on the 24th of February, and was called the 
emeute of the Trees of Liberty. Most of the trees 
planted in the streets of Paris to celebrate the installg,- 
tion of the republic had by this time died, and many 
of them stood in the way. The police received orders 
to cut them all down. Some resistance was offered, but 
it was easily overcome, troops being numerous enough 
in the capital. 

But it was not so in the provinces, especially those 
of the East and Centre. Here socialism had taken very 
strong root. Even within the year many had joined the 
ranks ; some through selfishness, others through igno- 
rance, some through fear, some through conviction. 
Many expected to play a great part in the forthcoming 
grand regeneration, and the rest, either indifferent to 
consequences or unable to prevent them, with folded 
arms moodily waited the evil. 

" Every one is a socialist here, or going to be," wrote 

a general, commanding a military division of the East, 

to the President of the republic. " This city contains 

only three men for whom I would undertake to be 

38 



446 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

responsible — the prefect of the department, the deputy 
mayor, and myself! " 

To meet the pressing danger, and to prevent, if possi- 
ble, an appeal to arms on the 10th of March, the day 
of the elections, Louis Napoleon issued a decree divid- 
ing the country into five great military commands, and 
placed the army under the authority of five generals, 
who had already given him sufiicient proofs of their en- 
ergy and devotion. In this determined measure he was 
strongly supported by the Assembly by a vote of four 
hundred and thirty-seven to one hundred and eighty- 
three. 

In spite, however, of the uneasy state of public af- 
fairs, the beneficent influence of a stable government 
had been already felt throughout the country, and great 
results were now claimed by the Bonapartist papers as 
the effect of Louis Napoleon's admini'str-ation. 

" A year ago," said the Napoleon, " the state finances 
were gravely compromised ; there was a deficit of more 
than three hundred millions. Now, without loans, we 
can show an exchequer that balances. 

" A year ago, labor and commerce had ceased every 
where. Now, factories are in full activity. The custom 
houses have reported as favorably as in the most pros- 
perous years. The actual augmentation of the indirect 
revenue over the year 1848 is seventy-seven million 
francs. 

" A year ago, the city of Paris alone gave support to 
nearly one hundred thousand poor. Now, the number 
is reduced to ten thousand, 

^^ A year ago, the tolls of Paris had considerably di- 
minished, the workmen were withdrawing their deposits 
from the savings banks, and pledging their effects in 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON UL 447 

the Mont de Piete. To-day the tolls are six millions 
more than last year. Deposits in the savings banks are 
increased by 25,886,000 francs ; and according to offi- 
cial reports, the total value of effects released from the 
Mont de Piete is much greater than that of the effects 
pledged. 

" A year ago, the stocks were at TO. To-day, they 
are at 97." 

The day for elections soon came, and the excitement 
in Paris was intense. Of the thirty representatives, three 
were to be elected in the capital. The socialist nomina- 
tions were De Flotte, Yidal, and Carnot, ex-minister of 
public instruction. The government nominations had 
been so modified, to suit the different sections of the 
majority, that, though worthy men, they were unpopu- 
lar, or rather hardly known at all. The consequence 
was, that the social and democratic ticket triumphed. 
The barricade men conquered by some thousand the 
nominees of the party of order. 

Nor was this all. M. Vidal, being also elected in the 
department of Upper Rhine, preferred taking his seat 
as representative of Strasburg, and another election 
was appointed to take place in Paris on the 28th of 
April. The government candidate was M. Leclerc, a 
merchant, who had signally distinguished himself in the 
battles of June ; the socialists ran M. Eugene Sue, the 
romancist. The most vigorous efforts were made by the 
Assembly to have their candidate returned, and the 
struggle on the other side was equally energetic. The 
battle ended in the complete triumph of Eugene Sue, 
who received more than 126,000 votes. This was 
30,000 more than had been given to General Cavaignac. 

In the previous year Paris had returned only conser- 



448 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

vative representatives ; sucli a sudden and determined 
change filled the Assembly with consternation. They 
could not contain their anger at such a defeat^, and panted 
for revenge. They forgot that Paris was as fickle as the 
wind. They did not remark that, whilst the frivolous 
inhabitants of the capital, always a prey to some fanati- 
cism or other, thus hoisted the socialist flag, the prov- 
inces had by no means imitated their example, and that, 
on the whole, the conservative party had gained by the 
late elections. This they did not see, or rather pretend- 
ed not to see, in their eagerness to strike a new blow, 
with which they expected to annihilate socialism. 

M. Eugene Sue had been scarcely elected when the 
majority of the Assembly loudly declared that universal 
suffrage, that magnificent phantom of the provisional 
government, should be looked into. Reform, they said, 
was clearly called for. At first the advocates of change 
only sought to oppose those chance majorities brought 
about through party combinations, by means of a float- 
ing population, and to prevent the same elector from 
voting successively in several departments during 
the same legislature. But they soon came out boldly, 
and demanded that the system of universal suffrage 
should be thoroughly purified. 

It is not easy to see how universal suffrage could be 
purified by other means than those already taken ; that 
is, by the exclusion of all malefactors and vagabonds rec- 
ognized as such by justice. Perhaps some more effectual 
purification was desirable ; but could not a measure be 
devised less destructive of the principle of universal 
suffrage than that now decided upon ? Still, we cannot, 
at this time, nor in this country, realize to ourselves the 
painfully excited state of feeling relative to socialism 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 449 

existing among tlie moderate parties in France at that 
period. The measure, of course, cannot be approved of, 
but it can certainly be palliated. The principle of uni- 
versal suffrage is good, because it recognizes the equality 
of man to his fellows, and the inalienable right of self- 
government. But where society is so constituted that 
man, generally speaking, cannot act as an equal with 
his fellows, and from nature or ignorance is at the mercy 
of every brawling demagogue that flatters his basest 
passions and inflates his selfishness, there the application 
of universal suffrage can hardly be advised. We do not 
say that such was the actual state of France at the time ; 
but many honest men in the Assembly thought it to be 
so, and the prejudices, fears, and ulterior calculations of 
the others did the rest. 

Louis Napoleon and his ministers yielded, on this oc- 
casion, to the terrors of the conservatives, perhaps to 
their own. The president, however, though he agreed 
to the measure, somewhat qualified his approval. 

" I am willing," said he, when consulted by his cabi- 
net on the subject, " that there should be a temporary 
suspension of the right of universal suffrage. In an 
urgent crisis, the law, in the name of the public, can 
suspend a right. But abrogate, or annul it, it cannot. 
Universal suffrage must be restored as soon as circum- 
stances permit." 

A committee was accordingly formed to frame a project 
regulating the reforms to be applied to the electoral law. 
It was soon finished, and when drawn up in legal form, 
presented to the Assembly for approval. According to 
its provisions no citizen could vote unless he had been 
living three years previously in the commune for which 
he appeared. Domiciliation could not be proved by 



450 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

legal affidavit made before the tribunals, but only by tbe 
appearance of tlie name in the taxman's book, (la preuve 
Jiscale de la cote personnelle). The soldier under arms, 
the government functionary, the son in his father's house, 
and the salaried individual residing with his employer, 
were the only exemptions from this triennial domicilia- 
tion. The soldier could vote in his own commune, the 
functionary in his place of residence, and the two latter 
could vote on the simple certificate of residence from the 
parent or patron. 

As might be expected, this bill excited long and im- 
passioned debates before it passed into a law. Louis 
Napoleon very carefully kept himself apart from the 
question altogether. The committee of seventeen that 
had framed the bill desired all the credit of the meas- 
ure, and he took care not to deprive them of it. The 
Mountain opposed it with the most determined resolu- 
tion, and a party rallying around General Cavaignac 
denounced it as a violation of the constitution, and a 
disregard for the rights of the poor. Thiers retorted 
by alleging that it was the Mountain that had neglected 
no opportunity of violating the constitution, bringing 
forward the frequent insurrections as a proof of his as- 
sertion. 

" As for the poor," said he, " we must do every thing 
for them, except allow them to decide on great questions 
affecting the future interests of the country. Yes, give 
the poor every thing, except having any share in the 
government of the poor ! (Disapproval.) Besides, are 
those to be excluded the poor ? No, they are not the 
poor ; they are only the vagrants and the stragglers ! 
These are the men," he continued, " that form not the 
foundation, but the dangerous part of a crowded popu- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 451 

lation; these are tlie men who deserve that title, the 
most branded in all history — the vile multitude. Of 
course, I know there are men who do not like to deprive 
themselves of the support of the multitude ; but moral 
legislators, nevertheless, should keep it down. Repub- 
licans, good, real republicans should not love the vile 
multitude that has destroyed all republics. I know how 
tyrants agree with it, because they feed it, fondle it, 
and despise it ; but repuhlicans, who would cherish or 
flatter the multitude, are false and wicked republicans ! " 

Here he might have stopped ; but instigated by the 
demon of eloquence he continued, — 

" Don't you know history ? Open history : what does 
it teach you ? Listen. 

" History teaches us that it is the vile, the miserable 
multitude that sold Roman liberty to the Caesars for 
bread and circus games, and then murdered the emper- 
ors it had chosen for itself ; that had shrieked for joy 
at the deserved punishment of Robespierre, but would 
as frantically applaud yours or mine ; that submitted, 
indeed, to a great man because he knew it, and could 
master it ; but that intoxicated him with its adulations, 
drove him to despotism, and at last, in 1815, threw a 
rope around his neck to drag him through the gutter." 

Loud applauses and hisses greeted this uncalled-for 
tirade. Prince Napoleon started up amid loud cries of 
order ! and asked permission to speak. M. Thiers re- 
fused to leave the tribune. " No," said he, " I will not 
add to the grief of the Assembly by letting it see a man 
of the illustrious name of Napoleon sustaining such 
opinions." 

But the prince persisting, Thiers gave way. " I could 
not contain myself," said the prince, " when I heard M. 
Thiers say it was the people " 



452 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

f ^ No, no ! " interrupted the Eight ; " lie did not say 
the people, but the multitude." 

'^The people/' continued Napoleon, "that tied the 
rope around the neck of Napoleon's statue. I am 
astonished that the honorable M. Thiers, the great histo- 
rian, does not know that it was the royalists ! (" Yes, yes," 
and cheers, from the Mountain.) It was a man bearing 
a great name that did the deed. It is on account of the 
name I bear, that I defend the interests of the people, 
I had rather be on the side of the conq^uered at Water- 
loo than on that of the conquerors." 

But such historical discussions, though they enlivened 
the debate, had very little effect on the subject at issue. 
On the 31st of May, 1850, the bill passed the Assembly 
with a clear majority of more than two hundred and fifty. 
Of its merits it will be enough to say that it stripped of 
their rights as citizens three millions of electors. There 
were now in the nation a domiciled aristocracy, and a 
class of political Pariahs. 

Louis Napoleon was well aware that the measure was 
a two-edged weapon, to be directed against his own 
reelection as well as against the socialists ; still, when 
asked to interpose his veto, he replied,— 

"I do not think this law, whatever its nature, can 
affect the universal suffrage which elects the president of 
the republic." But though the Assembly passed it, and 
the president signed it, to us it seems a contradiction 
that either president or Assembly could legally limit the 
power upon which they themselves defended altogether 
for whatever authority they possessed. 

This was the last time that the majority of the Assem- 
bly unanimously coalesced with the executive against 
their mutual foe, the socialists. The suppressed hostility 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 453 

soon made its appearance. It was on a question of sup- 
plies. On the 4th of June, M. Achille Fould, the 
minister of finances, presented a motion to augment the 
salary of the president of the republic by allowing two 
hundred and fifty thousand francs a month for the ex- 
penses of his station. The minister pressed the legality 
of the demand. 

" When the Constituent Assembly/' said he, '^ ap- 
pointed the salary of the president of the republic to be 
six hundred thousand francs a year, it reserved for the 
Legislative Assembly the right of increasing this sum^ 
if it were considered insufiicient for the necessities of the 
presidency, and the benevolent and charitable expenses 
attached to the first magistracy of the republic. It is 
then to supply an expenditure which the habits and 
customs of our country render a duty, that the govern- 
ment now proposes to the Assembly to increase the salary 
of the president. The experience of more than a year 
has proved its insufficiency. This insufficiency would 
degrade, both in our own eyes and those of the stranger^ 
the lofty position which he occupies. It would forcibly 
close his hands against the innumerable cases of misfor- 
tune which from all parts of the country continually 
address themselves to him as the personified benevolence 
of France. It would render him powerless to do good." 

The demand met with strong opposition. 

The president received altogether, salary and presi- 
dential expenses included, the sum of one million two 
hundred thousand francs, or two hundred and forty 
thousand dollars per annum^. Comparing this sum with 
our president's salary of thirty thousand dollars a year, 
it seems enormous. But this young, flourishing country 
differs in so many respects from Europe, that such a 



454 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

comparison would not be fair. Let us take into tlie 
question considerations more directly bearing upon it. 
The salary of the French president was not the one eighth 
part of the sum voted every year by the British par- 
liament to pay Queen Victoria's personal expenses. 
Charles X.-had a civil list of more than six million of 
dollars, and Louis Philippe of nearly three millions, 
besides an immense personal income. Compared with 
such sums as these, the minister's demand of six hundred 
thousand dollars per annum, to be appropriated to the 
exigencies of the first magistracy of a country like France, 
certainly does not seem too extravagant. Besides, the pe- 
cuniary calls made on exalted positions in the old country 
are endless, and generally speaking, must be complied 
with. Of this we can obtain a very clear idea from the 
reply made by the author of ^'^ La premiere Presidence 
de Louis Napoleon," to a taunting article in the National, 
wherein it was said that the executive power had some- 
thing else to do besides ^' flinging the nation's money at 
the first beggars that came in the way." 

'' Do "WQ wish to know," he asks, ^^ who were those 
beggars that the socialist journals treated with such con- 
tempt ? They were not only the old soldiers of the em- 
pire, veteran warriors that had shed their blood on every 
battle field in Europe ; these were only a small part of 
the number ; they were benevolent and charitable societies, 
who solicited the president for a penny to relieve aban- 
doned children and sick tradesmen ; they were clergymen, 
who went about questing in behalf of their falling church 
and impoverished dioceses ; they were artists, composers, 
men of letters, who asked the head of the state to sub- 
scribe to their works, to their concerts, to their pictures, 
to their statues; they were prefects, mayors, who 



LIFE OF NAP0LE02-T III. 455 

tKouglit tliey were honoring the president by asking him 
for his name among the subscribers to monuments that 
were to perpetuate the great recollections of our history ; 
they were antiquated functionaries^ widows, old state 
servants, who wanted a morsel of bread. This list, lam- 
entably long, comprised pensioners of the old civil list. 
Chevaliers of St. Louis, and lastly many political crim- 
inals, and even a near female relative of Mazzini ! " 

Nevertheless, the proposed requisition was for a long 
time obstinately refused. Thiers exerted all his elo- 
quence in vain. At last, however, apparently induced 
by the intervention of General Changarnier, an unwill- 
ing consent was extorted, and the law passed. The ma- 
jority was only forty-six, the numbers being three hun- 
dred and fifty-four to three hundred and eight. This was 
the first question in which the republicans and royalists 
were decidedly united against the president ; the three 
hundred and eight hostile votes belonging in almost equal 
proportions to the two parties. 

With all its quarrels and disputes, however, the 
Assembly had not beeil idle during the year. From 
May, 1849, to July, 1850, it had converted into laws 
three hundred and seventeen propositions, not to speak 
of those discussed and rejected. The period of recess 
now approaching, before separating, the Assembly, as 
on the previous year, appointed a permanent committee 
of twenty-five, to watch over matters generally, and to 
convoke the representatives immediately in case any un- 
foreseen danger, or any grave symptom, occurred, of a 
nature to threaten the republic. With the exception of 
one impartial man, Odillon Barrot, all the members of 
this committee were notoriously hostile to the president, 
being avowed Orleanists or legitimists. The Assembly 



456 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

then adjourned from tlie lltli of August to the 14th of 
November. 

On the morning of the 12th of August, the president 
c[uitted Paris, and set out on two successive tours, one 
through the south-east and east, the other through the 
west of France, We cannot describe his progress fur- 
ther than by saying that, in spite of the most strenuous 
efforts of the socialists to interrupt it, it was generally 
a, triumphant procession from department to department. 
Besides the old halo of the name that in many minds 
almost deified him, people by this time had seen and 
acknowledged his oum merits — his ability, at least, to 
maintain general tranquillity. For more than a month 
now he put his hand, as it were, on the heart of the 
country, and felt its pulsations. He saw that France, 
taking little interest in the personal ambitions of the 
Assembly, and terrified at the spread of socialism, was 
weary of suspense, and wished for permanent tranquil- 
lity, at almost any sacrifice. Cries of ''Vive Napoleon ! " 
were far more frequently heard than '' Vive la repu- 
hlique.^^ The latter cry, in fact, by this time had come 
to mean " Vive la repuhlique rouge ! " and was hardly 
ever heard except from socialist lips. From this is 
easily seen what an injury socialism had inflicted on lib- 
erty, and how much the frequency and frenzied energy 
of a cry generally repeated by the lowest and most dis- 
reputable characters in the community must have dis- 
gusted quiet, simple people with the very idea of a 
republic. 

Louis Napoleon's discourse at the banquet offered him 
by the city of Lyons on the 15th of August showed 
how well he understood this state of things. This fa- 
mous address^ which immediately gave rise to so many 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 457 

Speculations and hostile or hopeful remarks, we cannot 
omit. 

"Let me present the worthy representative of the 
city of Lyons," he said to the mayor, " with the sincere 
expression of my gratitude for her friendly and sympa- 
thetic reception. But, believe me, I am not come to 
these regions, where the emperor, my uncle, has left 
such deep traces of his memory, merely to receive ova- 
tions or to hold reviews. 

^^The object of my journey is, by my presence, to 
encourage the good, to reassure the doubting, and to 
judge for myself of the sentiments and wants of the 
country. This task demands your cooperation, and in 
order to obtain it, I must tell you with frankness what 
I am and what I think. 

'* I am not the representative of a party, but the rep- 
resentative of two great national manifestations, which, 
in 1804 as in 1848, would save, by establishing order, 
the great principles of the French revolution. Proud, 
then, of my origin and of my banner, I shall remain 
faithful to them ; I shall hold myself completely sub- 
ject to the country, v/hatever she requires of me, wheth- 
er renunciation or perseverance. 

" Reports of coups d^ctat have perhaps reached you, 
gentlemen. You have not believed in them. I thank 
you for it. Surprises and usurpations may be the 
dreams of parties unsupported by the nation, but the 
elect of six millions executes the will of the people. He 
does not betray them. 

" Patriotism, I repeat, may consist in renunciation as 

well as in perseverance. Before a general danger every 

personal ambition should disappear. In such a case 

patriotism is to be recognized as maternity was recog- 

39 



458 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

nized in a certain celebrated lawsuit. You remember 
tlie two women that claimed the same child. By what 
sign was the love of the real mother discovered ? By 
the renunciation of her rights to save a beloved object. 
Parties that love France should not forget this sublime 
lesson ! 

" I myself, if necessary, shall remember it. But, on 
the other hand, should guilty pretensions revive, and 
threaten to compromise the repose of France^ I shall 
Jcnow how to reduce them to impotence by again invoicing 
the sovereignty of the people. For I recognize in nobody 
a right greater than mine to call himself representa- 
tive of the people. You must understand these senti- 
ments ; for every thing that is noble, generous, sincere, 
finds a ready echo among the Lyonnese. Of this your 
history presents immortal examples. Consider these 
words, then, as a proof of my confidence and my esteem." 

A passage in his discourse at Cherbourg on Septem- 
ber 6, was not less remarkable. 

" Gentlemen," said he, " the more I travel through 
France, the more I perceive that much is expected from 
government. I enter no department, town, or village 
where the mayor and municipal authorities do not aslc 
me, here, for means of communication, such as canals or 
railroads ; there, for works of improvement ; every where, 
in short, for measures to remedy the grievances of ag- 
riculture, and to give life to industry and commerce. 

'^Nothing is more natural than the expression of these 
desires. They do not strike, rely upon it, an inattentive 
ear. But, in my turn, I think it my province to tell 
you that these so much desired results cannot be obtained 
unless you give me the means to accomplish, them. 

*' These means consist altogether in your cooperating 
to strengthen authority and disconcert future dangers." 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 459 

WHlst -Louis Napoleon was thus traversing France, 
discomfiting socialism and strengthening his own popu- 
larity, the other parties were not idle. Louis Philippe 
had lived quietly in England since his arrival there in 
1848 ; but his health now failing, MM. Thiers, De Bro- 
glie. Mole, and others hastened to Claremont to present 
their final regards. He died on the 26th of August, 
and, before returning to France, these chiefs of the Or- 
leans party came to an understanding with the princes of 
that house as to the line of policy to be adopted in order 
to insure the success of their claims. At the same time, 
MM. De Saint-Priest, Berryer, and De la Kochejaquelein 
hastened to Wisbaden to pay their respects to the Count 
de Chambord, or " Henry Y.," as he was called by the 
legitimists, who considered Louis Philippe a usurper. 
This prince, our- readers of course remember, was the 
son of the Duke de Berri, and grandson of Charles X., 
born in 1821, some months after his father's assassina- 
tion, and surnamed the " Child of Europe." On the 
15th of August he had established himself and his little 
court at Wisbaden, in Germany, whither great numbers 
of the most distinguished legitimists had immediately 
repaired. Twenty-eight representatives and six or seven 
members of the Committee of Permanence were of the 
party, and all formed what soon went by the name of 
the Congress of Wisbaden. The chief object of the 
meeting was the fusion of two royalist sections into one 
firm, consistent body, to make head against the revolu- 
tionists. This project met with no success, perhaps from 
the unmanageable pretensions of the Count de Cham- 
bord, — though it is said he declared openly that if the 
chief of the house of Orleans made one step in advance, 
he was ready to make ten. 

Seeing that nothing could be done in this respect for 



460 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tlie present, tlie leaders decided that tlie legitimist party^ 
in its future policy, should protest cautiously, but ener- 
getically, against the revolutionary government, which it 
had supported only in difficult moments, when the public 
safety required \t. The other results of the meeting 
were imbodied in a letter, called the Barthelemy Cir- 
cular, directed to every man in France remarkable for 
his royalist opinions or antecedents. It was dated Au- 
gust 30, 1850, and among other things it said, "All 
our friends in the Assembly able to leave France have 
made it a solemn duty to be the first at Wisbaden." 
" The Count de Chambord has declared that he reserved 
for himself the direction of the general policy." '^ To 
provide for sudden eventualities, and to secure that com- 
plete unity of thought and action which alone can con- 
stitute our strength, the count has named the men 
expressly appointed in France to put his policy into 
execution." " He has formally condemned the system 
of an appeal to the people, as implying the negative of 
the great principle of hereditary monarchy." " His 
agents, whom every legitimist shall recognize, are MM. 
the Duke de Levis, General Saint-Priest, Berryer, 
representatives of the people, the Marquis du Pastouret, 
and the Duke d'Escars. 

Here, then, were four great parties ; the legitimists, 
the Orleanists, the Bonapartists, and the socialists, all 
engaged in keen struggle for the ascendency. Where 
were the real republicans ? Nowhere ! Who stood by 
the constitution ? Nobody. It was a good name to^ 
fight under, and each party claimed it for itself; but no 
one seriously considered it any thing else than a dead let- 
ter. In such a state of things it is plain that nothing but 
the will of France, universally expressed, could decide a 
question that was every day becoming more difficult. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 461 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 

Dispute hetween General Ghangarnier and the Government. — 
The Review at Satory. — Alarm of the Permanent Commit' 
tee. — Rumored Conspiracy of the Assembly to depose Louis 
Napoleon^ and make Changarnier Dictator. — Society of 
10th of December dissolved. — Reopening of the Assembly. 
' — President's Message gives some Glimpses of his future 
Policy. — Spurious Message. — General Changarnier openly 
opposes the President, and obliges the Ministry to resign. — 
He is removed from his Command. — Stormy Scene in the 
Assembly, resisting in the immediate Resignation of the 
new Ministry. — France for three Months without a regular 
Cabinet. — Joy of the Socialists. — The Author of ^^Le Spectre 
Rouge " tries to alarm the Country. — The Dotation Bill 
rejected by a Coalition of all Parties. — Montcdemberfs 
Speech. — Popularity of the President. — Public Topics. 

For more than a montli before the reopening of the 
Assembly, the quarrel between General Changarnier and 
the parliamentary committee on the one side, and the 
government and ministry on the other, was a subject of 
common remark in Paris. This quarrel, revealing, as it 
did pretty clearly, the real state of parties, and leading 
to such serious troubles, deserves to be recorded. 

General Changarnier, commander-in-chief of the army 
of Paris, commander-in-chief of the National Guards of 
Paris, and a leading member of the permanent commit- 
tee, was now generally regarded as a third power in the 
state. He had done good service in June, 1849, by 
suppressing the socialist insurrection almost without 
bloodshed, and it was to the admirable measures he had 
since taken, quiet and silent, but effective, that the gen- 
eral tranquillity of the capital was to be attributed. But 
39* 



462 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

he was a man of impracticable temper and excessive 
pretensions, wlio made no secret of his vast importance 
to the executive. To give a slight instance of this in- 
subordination. The Tuilleries was his head quarters. 
Here, in the palace chapel, without consulting the pres- 
ident or the ministers, he had funeral services celebrated 
on the occasion of the death of Louis Philippe. Louis 
Napoleon must have felt the omission, for, though he 
approved of the proceeding itself as an act of piety 
performed towards the deceased king by one of his old 
servants, he said to several who spoke to him on the 
subject, — 

" I shall never look on the prayers which the church 
offers for the dead as an act of political malevolence or 
opposition." 

It was not with the president, however, but with the 
minister of war, that the quarrel commenced. The su- 
preme control of the army belongs of right to the min- 
ister of war ; but General Changarnier, for some reason, 
considered that his command of the army of Paris in- 
vested him with a separate and independent jurisdiction. 
The subordinates on both sides inflamed the dispute. 
The president was appealed to, who of course sustained 
his minister. This exasperated the general to such a 
degree that, if the word of several who called themselves 
accomplices can be credited, he joined a conspiracy to 
have Louis Napoleon deposed by the Assembly, and 
taken to the prison of Vincennes, whilst himself was to 
occupy the vacant Palace of Elysee. However this may 
be, it seems he asked the president to be allowed to form 
a camp of twelve thousand men at Versailles. Louis Na- 
poleon approved of this idea, for he wished to cultivate his 
acquaintance with the army as well as with the people i 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 463 

but, when tlie minister of war observed tbat tbe expense 
of such a project would never be permitted by the As- 
sembly, instead of a regular camp at Versailles, he sub- 
stituted the holding of reviews on the neighboring plains 
of Satory. "With this arrangement Changarnier appeared 
to agree. 

The first review at Satory was held about the end of 
September. The general could not avoid being present, 
but every one noticed his cold and dissatisfied air. Loud 
cries of ''Vive le President I " "Vive Napoleon! " and 
even "Vive VEmpereur ! " passed along the line. The 
evolutions were performed in the most brilliant manner. 
At the end of the review, the prince ofiered a cold col- 
lation to the officers. It was very acceptable, but at the 
sight of the first corkscrew. General Changarnier gal- 
loped off with all his staff. At the same time, refresh- 
ments were served out to the troops, who did not fail to 
express their satisfaction by renewed cries of " Vive 
VEmpereur I " A few days after, a second review was 
held at the same place, which was almost a counterpart 
of the first. 

At a meeting of the permanent committee on the 7th 
of October, these reviews of Satory were immediately 
taken under consideration. The minister of war was 
sent for. He was questioned as to the refreshments fur- 
nished to the troops. 

" The distribution took place by my orders," he re- 
plied. " It is customary to grant double rations to each 
man on hohdays or review days. For this alone I am 
answerable, and this I have granted at the expense of 
the state. A distribution of meat, at the rate of five 
cents' worth to every man, was also made to weary troops 
that had a long way to march before reaching their bar- 



464 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

racks ; but that was done at the expense of the presi- 
dent. It is only a proof of his solicitude in their regard. 
Any one seeing an excitement to sedition in that, must 
have a poor opinion not only of the executive power, but 
also of the French army." 

After some whispered comments on the minister's 
reply, the committee asked some explanation of those 
cries of " Vive VEmpereur ! " uttered by whole regi-- 
ments as they defiled before the president. 

The minister answered that he had heard these cries, 
but that he attributed them altogether to the natural 
enthusiasm of the French soldier for the memory of the 
emperor. As to their illegality, or rather irregularity, 
he was of course aware that military regulations forbade 
the soldier under arms to utter any cry ; but, he added, 
such regulations had never been insisted upon, at least 
rigorously : then suddenly turning towards General 
Changarnier, the minister asked him what answer he 
would make if he were ordered to put these regulations 
in force. 

The general replied slowly, and carefully weighing 
every word, — 

" If the minister of war addresses me this question 
as the commander-in-chief, I know ray answer. Au- 
thorities can prevent cries if they choose to do so. It 
is contrary to my wishes and in spite of my advice, that 
these acclamations have not only been encouraged, but 
called forth. If I have not taken repressive measures, 
it is because at a review where the president and the 
minister of war are present, their responsibility covers 
and effaces that of the commander-in-chief. I give this 
explanation because the minister provokes me to it ; but 
I would beg him to observe that I am here as a member 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 465 

of the committee^ and not as commander-in-chief of the 
army of Paris." 

Little regarding these hostile manifestations, however, 
the president proclaimed another review to be held on 
the 10th. It passed off with great splendor. 

General Changarnier had given no order of the day 
regarding the cries ; " Vive Napoleon ! " and *^ Vive 
V Empereur I " were louder than ever. Refreshments 
and wine were given as before, and the troops, as may 
be supposed, drank their entertainer's health in many a 
flowing bumper. 

Next day the committee assembled in great dudgeon, 
and passed some resolutions which, as they were kept a 
profound secret, were considered to be very terrible. 
General Neumayer, in obedience to the order of his su- 
perior, announced his intention of opposing every kind 
of cry when the troops were under arms, even though 
the minister should authorize them to the contrary. For 
this he received a sharp rebuke from the minister, who 
strongly asserted his own prerogative. General Chan- 
garnier protested indignantly at such an invasion of dis- 
cipline, and M. D'Hautpoul, the minister, for peace 
sake, resigned. He was appointed governor of Algeria, 
and his portfolio was immediately given to General 
Schramm, the son of an old soldier of the empire. 

The new minister of war, however, insisted on the re- 
moval of Neumayer as a point of discipline. Changar- 
nier again protested, and the affair might have been 
, arranged but for an act of indiscretion on the part of 
Neumayer, which looked like a defiance. He was then 
removed from his command, though his new appoint- 
ment was in some respects a promotion. General Chan- 
garnier was mortally incensed, and publicly said that he 



466 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

would have tendered his resignation, had he not felt 
himself morally bound to remain at his post, unless the 
president should dismiss him. 

It is hard to get at the truth at any time ; but when 
men having an interest to conceal it are still living, it is 
impossible to reach it even by approximation. A dark 
plot was commonly whispered of at this time, though 
never substantiated, having no less an object than the 
president's arrest. Here is all we could make out on 
the subject. 

The plan of the conspiracy was said to be as follows : — 
The principal members of the committee were to draw 
up an act, accusing the president of exceeding his 
powers, and of a flagrant conspiracy to change the form 
of the government and usurp the sovereign authority. 
This act, signed by several members of the committee, 
was to be handed to M. Dupin, president of the Assem- 
bly, who was to sign it in his turn, and then to give it 
to General Changarnier, who, thus empowered, was to 
arrest the president immediately and lodge him in prison. 
The general was to exercise a kind of military dictator- 
ship until the national representation should approve of 
all that had been done. Then, Changarnier, supposed 
to be a strong Orleanist, was to protect an appeal to the 
people, which would most likely result in setting aside 
the claims of Henry Y. and in restoring the throne of 
July. 

; Such is said to have been the plan of this parlia- 
mentary coup d'etat, of which M. Thiers was com- 
monly mentioned as the organizer. It is added that the 
act was accordingly made out, duly signed, and handed 
to M. Dupin, who alone could transfer it to General 
Changarnier ; but that the president of the Assembly, 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 467 

less fiery or more prudent than his colleagues, Tce^pt it in 
his pockety unwilling to precipitate matters by attempt- 
ing an arrest which, considering the vigilance of the 
adversary, should prove extremely difficult of accom- 
plishment. 

However all this may be, one day, after a session of 
the committee, which as usual had come to nothing, M. 
Mole hastened to the Elysee, and asked to see the 
president. 

" Prince," said he, ^^ the permanent committee wishes 
to have you arrested. Proposals have just now been 
made to me ; but I rejected them with indignation, and I 
said on retiring that I would give you warning." 

" I thank you, count," said the president ; "I ex- 
pected no less from you. But I was aware of all this 
before, and thought so little of these foolish projects, 
that I have just now been walking through the Champs 
Elysees. If they were really in earnest they had a good 
opportunity." 

'^ But," said Mole, surprised at this coolness, " there 
are men there fully capable of executing this plot in the 
name of the Assembly." 

" If they will attack me in the name of the Assem- 
bly," was the reply, ^' they must not forget that I will 
defend myself in the name of Prance." 

Nothing, however, was done, except that a formal or- 
der of the day appeared on the 2d of November, signed 
by General Changarnier, commanding the army to ab- 
stain from every demonstration, and to utter no cry 
whatever, when under arms. In fact, instead of an 
attempt being made by the committee to seize the 
prince's person, all Paris was thrown into consternation, 
on the 8th of November, by an article in the Journal des 



468 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

DebatSy containing the details of a dreadful plot, con- 
cocted by some members of the society of the 10th of 
December, to murder M. Dupin and General Changar- 
nier. The individuals, said the journal, cast lots ; he 
who drew the ticket marked C declared he was ready 
to execute the decree of the society against Changarnier, 
but the drawer of the letter D did not seem reconciled 
to the task of killing M. Dupin. This society of the 
10th of December, formed nearly two years before, and 
containing many personal friends of the prince, had lat- 
terly become the su.bject of much complaint, whether 
well or ill founded. The new accusation, however, was 
too monstrous to be believed. General Piat, the presi- 
dent, came out in a card, in which he declared, ^' on his 
military honor, that the society had never meddled in 
politics ; and as to the plot, he would not degrade his 
entire life by condescending to deny the existence of a 
meeting of which murder could have been the ob- 
ject." Notwithstanding this emphatic denial, and al- 
though the prefect of the police qualified the whole affair 
as a hoax, as it was afterwards indeed proved to be by 
the conviction of the witness for perjury, such an outcry 
was raised against the society of the 10th of December, 
now consisting of more than fifteen hundred members, 
that the president ordered the minister of the interior to 
pronounce its dissolution. 

On the 11th of November, 1850, the Assembly re- 
sumed its session, and ■ next day M. Baroche, who had 
succeeded M. Ferdinand Barrot in the ministry of the 
interior, read the president's annual message. This doc- 
ument, after giving a complete description of the state 
of affairs in general, as usual, passed in review, by turns, 
each branch of the administration. Speaking of the 
expedition to Eome, it said, — 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 469 

" Our arms Lave overtlirown that turbulent dema- 
goguism wliicli has compromised the cause of real lib- 
erty throughout the Italian peninsula, and our braye 
soldiers have had the signal honor of restoring Pius IX. 
to the throne of St. Peter. Party spirit shall never ob- 
scure this fact, which will always form a glorious page 
in the history of France. The constant aim of our ex- 
ertions has been to encourage the liberal and philan- 
thropic dispositions of the Holy Father. The pontifical 
power continues to realize the promises contained in the 
Motu Froyrio of September, 1849." 

Touching questions that most deeply engaged the 
minds of all, the message spoke with reserve, though 
the meaning of several passages was clear enough. 
Towards the end, it said, — 

" Notwithstanding the difficulty of circumstances, law 
and authority have so far recovered their empire that 
now no one dreams of the success of violent measures. 
But, on the other hand, the more fears diminish regard- 
ing the present, the more they increase regarding the 
future. France first of all wants repose. She is hardly 
yet recovered from the dangers that threatened society, 
and remains indifferent to quarrels between parties or 
individuals, in the presence of the great interests that 
are at stake." 

Farther on, he says, — 

"As first magistrate of the republic, I have been 
obliged to put myself in communication with the clergy, 
the magistracy, the agriculturists, the manufacturers, the 
people, in short, and the army ; and I have taken care 
to seize every opportunity to show them my gratitude 
for the support they have given me. If m_y name and 
my efforts have succeeded in arousing the spirit of the 
40 



470 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

army, of which I alone, according to the terms of the 
constitution, have the power to dispose, it is a service, I 
venture to say, which I have rendered the country, for 
I have always directed my personal influence to the ad- 
vantage of order. 

" It is now permitted to every one, except myself, to 
desire the speedy revision of our fundamental law. If 
the constitution contains vices and dangers, you are at 
liberty to hold them up before the gaze of the country. 
I alone, bound down by my oath, circumscribe myself 
within its strictly drawn limits. 

" The councils general have, in great numbers, ex- 
pressed a wish for its revision. This wish is addressed 
to the legislative power. j4.s for me, the elect of the 
people, amenable hut to the people, I shall always con- 
form to the wishes of the people, legally expressed. 

^*^If in this session you vote the revision of the 
constitution, our fundamental laws shall be reformed, 
and the system of the executive authority regulated ; 
if you do Tiot vote it, the people, in 1852, will solemnly 
manifest the expression of their new wishes. But what- 
ever may be the solutions of the future, let us understand 
each other, so that it may never be left to passion, or 
surprise, or violence, to decide the fate of a great nation. 
Let us inspire the people with a love of repose, by intro- 
ducing calmness into our deliberations : let us inspire 
them with a love of rectitude, by never forgetting its 
dictates ourselves : then, rely upon it, the progress made 
in our political morals will compensate for the danger 
of institutions created in days of suspicions and uncer- 
tainties. 

" What occupies me especially is, not to know who 
shall govern France in 1852, but to employ the time at 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 471 

my disposal in such a manner tliat the transition^ what- 
ever it may be, may take place without trouble or agi- 
tation. 

" The employment which is noblest and worthiest of 
a generous soul is, not to seek, when one is in power, 
by what expedients he can retain himself there, but to 
seek incessantly for the means of consolidating, for the 
benefit of all, those principles of authority and morality 
which are continually struggling with the passions of 
men and the instability of the laws. 

" I have loyally opened my heart to you ; you will 
correspond to my frankness by your confidence, to my 
good intentions by your cooperation, and God will do 
the rest." 

From the passages which we have Italicized it will be 
seen that he firmly asserted his claim to the sole com- 
mand of the army ; that, being amenable only to the 
people, he was determined to accept nothing from the 
Assembly ; that he foretold the revision of the consti- 
tution in 1852 by the people ; and finally, that he stig- 
matized the constitution itself as a creation of days of 
suspicions and uncertainties. However, these glimpses 
of personal policy passed almost unnoticed in the favor 
with which the entire message was generally received. 

Regarding this message, a trick was played on the 
inhabitants of Paris, which created an excitement not 
soon completely calmed. On the morning of the meet- 
ing of the Assembly, a long document appeared in the 
columns of the Presse newspaper, purporting to be the 
president's message, and signed Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte. It was so cleverly done that almost every one 
was deceived, though long before three o'clock, when 
the paper was seized, the cheat had been discovered. 



472 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

The point of the witty imposture lay in the fact thao 
every word in the false message had been written by 
Louis ISTapoleon himself. It was a mosaic composed of 
sentences taken here and there from his various works. 
No wonder many were startled. It may be easily im- 
agined how *^ liberal " a message could be manufactured 
out of such materials, and how oddly the lucubrations 
of the German exile and the prisoner of Ham would 
sound on the world's ear, when put forv/ard as the cool 
and well-weighed phrases of the president of the Trench 
republic. The proprietor of the Presse was immedi- 
ately tried and condemned for having published false 
intelligence of a nature to trouble the public tranquillity. 

The public tranquillity at this time did not appear 
much troubled. France never seemed more calm. Tor 
some time after the opening of the Assembly, little oc- 
curred of a nature to interest newsmongers. But the 
public mind was not the less agitated. Though eighteen 
months had yet to elapse before the presidency would 
expire, the interval seemed nothing : uneasiness for the 
future altogether absorbed the present. Every one was 
continually thinking or talking of the events which the 
fearful year of 1852 might bring forth. The suspense 
was terrible, and it was not alleviated by reflecting that 
every day, as it passed, would render the difficulty still 
more complicated. 

Disputes in the Assembly commenced with the new 
year. On the 3d of January, 1851, an article appeared 
in a Bonapartjst paper. La Patrie, charging General 
Changarnier with having given very arbitrary orders to 
his troops a year and a half previously. It quoted the 
orders, and pledged itself for their authenticity. In the 
Assembly, on the same day, Prince Napoleon Bonaparte 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 473 

begged the minister of war to inform the house what 
were the orders issued at the time. The minister asked 
a delay of twenty-four hours to search for the necessary 
papers. The Assembly demanded an immediate answer. 
The prince said that General Changarnier had committed 
an unconstitutional act if he had issued the orders quoted 
in the newspaper. The general denied their authen- 
ticity, and then added these strange words : — 

" In no instructions of mine has the constitutional right 
of the Assembly to call out the troops been controverted, 
no more than that the same right can be delegated to the 
president of the Assembly." 

This was not only introducing a new question into 
discussion, but actually setting the executive and legis- 
lative powers at open war. The Assembly had been for 
some time trying to found its claims to the disposal of 
the army on a peculiar explanation of the thirty-second 
article of the constitution, of which, being loosely 
worded, it seemed susceptible. It was, therefore, with 
great delight that it saw General Changarnier, "the 
third power in the state," pronouncing so decidedly in 
favor of parliamentary sovereignty. It was so well 
pleased to see him thus abandoning the executive, and 
declaring himself and his sword at the command of the 
legislative, that it would not give the minister of war 
time to examine the documents, and by a triumphant 
majority expressed itself perfectly satisfied with the gen- 
eral's explanation. 

But the minister of war was determined to resign. 
<*^ Prince," said he to the president, "there is no longer 
a minister of war, since the Assembly arrogates to itself 
the right to command the army, and give orders to all, 
generals and troops." The prince accepted his resigna- 
40* 



474 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

tion, but at the same time decided on removing General 
Changarnier. He did not announce the dismissal at 
once : it was dangerous to do so before strengthening 
himself by the formation of a ministry that possessed 
some influence in the Assembly. After some negotia- 
tions, however, finding this idea impracticable, he formed 
a new cabinet as well as he could, and on the 9th of 
January, General Changarnier was deprived of his com- 
mand. Generals Perrot and Baraguy d'Hilliers were 
appointed in his place. This bold step, though totally 
unexpected, was so acceptable to the country that funds 
rose immediately. 

It excited, however, one of the stormiest scenes ever 
^ witnessed in the Assembly. The "Party of Order" 
was exceedingly exasperated at the loss of their cham* 
pion. M. de Lanjuinais commenced by proposing that 
'^ the National Assembly, whilst recognizing the incon- 
testable right of the executive power to dispose of mili- 
tary commands, blames the use which the ministry has 
made of this power, and declares that the ex-commander- 
in-chief of the army of Paris still preserves every title 
to the testimony of confidence given him by the Assem- 
bly, in the session of the 3d of January." M. Berryer 
said that "a state of thiiigs like the present could not 
continue, and should not continue." Lamartine had the 
courage to defend the president, characterizing the dis- 
missal as an act of pare government in which the As- 
sembly had no right to interfere. General Changarnier 
said, ^^ The country is divided between five parties ; the 
legitimists, the Orleanists, the moderate republicans, the 
demagogues, and finally, those men who desire the im- 
perial dictatorship, even without the glory and the genius 
from which it is inseparable." M. Thiers made a most 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 475 

bitter speech, two hours long, turning on his former 
friend with the utmost vindictiveness. " If the Assem- 
bly yields to-day," he concluded, ^^ the order may come 
when it will, but the empire is constituted ! " Gen- 
eral Cavaignac joined in the onslaught, saying pleasantly 
to his new political allies, " Certainly you appear in no 
great humor to constitute the empire." The coalition 
triumphed by an immense majority ; the Assembly, heed- 
less that such conduct was " cornering " the president, 
forcing him into a position in v/hich he was left no alter- 
native but to destroy his enemies or be destroyed him- 
self, passed a resolution of want of confidence in the 
ministry. 

Louis Napoleon, however, had gained his point ; 
Changarnier was removed ; the ministry, of course, was 
obliged to retire before such a storm ; but the president, 
instead of choosing a nevv^ cabinet among a majority that 
had shown such hostility, or among a minority where a 
combination of members was impossible, solved the dif- 
ficulty by forming a " transition ministry " from men of 
neither party, and who were not indeed even members 
of the Assembly. Such a state of things lasted, with 
little variation, for three months, and the wheels of gov- 
ernment were in every danger of finally coming to a 
dead lock. 

The socialists contemplated these quarrels with joy. 
Hope and confidence increased among them as they saw 
the breach growing wider every day between the only 
two recognized powers in the state. Their bulletins, 
distributed in thousands throughout Paris by invisible 
agents, cried continually, " Organize, organize ! let men 
of heart understand each other ; we are all aware that 
the struggle is not far off." Society seemed indifierent 



476 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

to its danger. After tlie wild, feverisli emotions of tlie 
revolution, it seemed fallen into a fit of stupor from 
which it could not be aroused. M. Eomieu, a thoughtful 
and eloquent writer, saw the abyss into which France 
was sinking, and gave loud notice of warning. He said 
plainly that there was no alternative between the reign 
of the sabre and the reign of the torch, and positively 
foretold the approach of a military dictatorship, as the 
necessary solution of the difficulties brought on by sucH 
follies and crimes. 

*^ In 1852," said he in a remarkable passage, " if no 
event in the mean time precipitate a catastrophe, we 
shall see the people rise to a man, and in contempt of the 
laws, with reason regarding them as so many bits of 
paper, deposit their interdicted votes, regard them valid 
in spite of the interdiction, and say next day to France, 
f Behold the voice of the people ! Obey ! ' Then shall 
the silence that now rocks you asleep be cut short. 
Then shall be understood the true meaning of the rev- 
olution of February. Then shall be understood the 
inevitable necessity of a death struggle to set at rest for- 
ever this lawsuit about privations and enjoyments. In 
the roar of the colossal chaos of the masses, no tribune, 
no press, shall utter a sound. The fabulous arsenal of 
the codes shall display its emptiness. There shall be no 
law but the law of force written in characters of brass. 
An unparalleled struggle shall take place. The army is 
ready for any battle ; discipline in its ranks has eJBfaced 
the power of old sentiments ; the soldier, like the monk, 
obeys only his rules and his superiors. ~ He has meddled 
little with our discussions, which he disdains ; his uniform 
is his party. In the frightful shock, the army will obey 
whoever shall be able to command it. And then," he 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 477 

exclaimed in the language of a prophet, "at the last 
hour of such a battle, he, who shall be the conqueror, 
(whether he be the present chief of the state or some one 
born of circumstances,) he who, the survivor, or the 
wisest of the chiefs, shall behold resistance prostrate, and 
shall wipe his reeking but triumphant sword after smiting 
the insurrection — he can not only take his place in the 
list of useful and great men, but he shall be omnipotent ; 
he will only have to breathe on the card castle of 1789, 
and say in his turn, ^ The state, it is I ! ' " * 

These words fell on empty ears. The country would 
not listen, and the Assembly preferred quarrelling with 
the president. An occasion soon came. It will be 
remembered that a supplementary sum of two million one 
hundred and sixty thousand francs (four hundred and 
thirty-two thousand dollars) had been granted in June 
for the presidential expenses of 1850. For the expenses 
of 1851, the minister of finances on the 3d of February 
presented the dotation bill, asking the appropriation of 
one million eight hundred thousand francs, (three hun- 
dred and sixty thousand dollars.) A committee of four- 
teen, appointed to examine the demand, gave in a most 
hostile report, saying that the " executive power had not 
acted correspondingly with the benevolence with which 
it had been treated." The discussion, the result of which 
every body knew beforehand, took place on the 10th of 
February. 

Montalembert saw all the fatal consequences of his 
colleagues' furious conduct, and by the most eloquent 
reasoning endeavored to arrest them in their wild career. 

"I am neither the guarantee," he said, ^^nor the 

* Le Spectre Rouge. 



4T8 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

friend, nor tlie connsellor, nor the advocate of tlie pres- 
ident of the republic ; I am only his witness. "Well 1 
I declare it conscientiously, he has acted in no respect 
unworthy of this great cause or order which we all serve, 
and of which so many supporters seem to blame him 
to-day. Am I competent to give such testimony? I 
say it unaffectedly, yes. The army of order has not a 
defender more devoted, more daring, more compromised 
than I. If then I have acquired any confidence, give 
me the benefit of it when I declare that the president of 
the republic has remained faithful to his mission, that 
he has succeeded in restoring society, reestablishing 
order, and keeping down demagoguism." 

Elsewhere he said, "The parliamentary quarrels 
under the monarchy are to-day remembered neither with 
love nor respect. And public opinion, let me tell you, 
is not pleased to witness these same fatal pastimes, these 
old state coalitions, making their appearance now under 
the same old leaders." He told the Assembly that they 
could not subdue the president. '^ The legislative 
power," said he, "was deprived of half its pres^z^e when 
the executive was elected directly by the people, when 
a single man was elected by five million suffrages, and 
something more than a royalty thus established. Why 
don't you understand ? Each of you represents but a 
seven himdred and fiftieth part of the sovereignty. 
Standing beside you is a single man who in himself alone 
represents the national will." 

He thus concluded : '' Permit me to address the two 
powers, and to say to both with a loyal voice. Cease 
this impious war, which can be profitable only to our 
common enemy. I implore you both to spare the coun- 
try, to have regard for its repose and your own, and 
remember your good name is at stake. Yes, if when 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 479 

we arrive at the fatal crisis of 1852 we are still fisfhtinsr, 
the people will justly think that each of us has preferred 
his own private idol to the altar of his country. The 
electors will say, " Look at those Whites ! They can do 
nothing but quarrel ; let us name the Reds ! ' And what 
shall come from all this ? Not an empire. Not a par- 
liamentary government. No, but socialism. And not 
a brutal and ephemeral socialism, of which we might 
easily rid ourselves, but a legal, an electoral socialism, 
an evil admitting no remedy, the destruction of France 
and of civilization." He might as well have addressed 
the winds. The dotation bill was rejected with a ma- 
jority of one hundred and two, the votes being three 
hundred and ninety-six to two hundred and ninety-four. 

This harshness of the Assembly, instead of pleasing 
the country, had the contrary effect of increasing the 
general sympathy for the president. In anticipation of 
the rejection of the bill, a subscription had been set on 
foot which already amounted to a considerable sum, and 
under the name of a national offering was to be presented 
for his acceptance. This, however, he firmly and at 
once declined to receive, and immediately announced his 
intention of conforming to the desires of the Assembly, 
by diminishing the expenses of the presidency. He put 
an end to balls at the Elysee for the rest of the season, 
gave up all expensive dinners and receptions, sold nearly 
all his carriages and horses, and retained only the most 
indispensable of his domestics and clerks. 

He did not find it so easy to form a ministry. A 
period of three months was consumed in long and useless 
negotiations on the subject. At last, a cabinet having 
MM. Baroche, Leon Faucher, and Achille Fould at its 
head, was formed, which seemed to please the coalition 
tolerably well ; for when, according to the usual custom. 



480 LIFE OP NAPOLEON- III. 

a member of tlie Left presented an order of tlie day 
expressing a want of confidence, the proposition was 
rejected by a majority of fifty-two voices. 

Three topics exclusively engaged public attention at 
this time : the fusion of the rival branches of the Bour- 
bons, the repeal of the electoral law, and the revision of 
the constitution. As to a combination between the 
royalists, reports were very contradictory. Now, it was 
the Orleans princes that held back ; now, the Count de 
Chambord. The people at large, however, took very 
little interest in these rumors ; nobody, except the parti- 
sans in the Assembly, seriously believing that a Bourbon 
dynasty was henceforth possible in France. The repeal 
of the electoral law, however, by which universal suf- 
frage had been so mutilated, was loudly demanded. 
The Assembly was generally opposed to it, but it was 
universally understood that the president would never rest 
until it was carried. This promised to precipitate mat- 
ters, and people looked forward with much anxiety for 
the result. 

The revision of the constitution also portended much 
trouble. On the 28th of May, 1851, the Assembly 
entered on its third year of legislation, when it was em- 
powered by article one hundred and eleventh to revise 
the constitution. To do so, this article prescribed three 
successive deliberations, at intervals of a month each, 
and a three fourths vote of all present (at least five 
hundred) as absolutely necessary for that purpose. 
Otherwise revision was impossible. This absurd pro- 
vision thus enabled one hundred and eighty-eight out 
of seven hundred and fifty representatives to set the 
whole country at defiance ; and, worse still, by rendering 
the least modification in the constitution almost impossi- 
ble, it threatened its total and impending destruction. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 48. 

Nevertheless, petitions innumerable continually pour- 
ing in from all parts of the country left no doubt as to 
the wishes of France on the subject. During the month 
of May nearly ten thousand flooded the tribunes. It 
was such a dangerous matter, however, to handle, that, 
loudly as it was called for, parties generally seemed un- 
willing to approach it, and under one pretence or anoth- 
er, the discussion was deferred to the latest moment 
possible. 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 

Famous Dijon Speech, in which Louis Napoleon announces 
his Disagreement with the Assembly and his Determination 
to ohey the Will of France. — Anger of the Assembly, and 
General Chang arnier's Outbreak. — Discussion on the Re- 
vision of the Constitution. — Victor Hugo's angry Apos- 
trophe. — Rejection of the Bill. — TJie Assembly is pro- 
rogued. — Candidates for 1852. — Alarming State of France. 
— Spread of Socialism. — Who is to make Head against 
it ? — Louis Napoleon'' s Policy. — Was it perjured 2 — Was 
it not his only Alternative. — Return of the Assembly. — 
President's Message advocating the Revisio?i. — Revision 
rejected by a Majority of Three. — A Dill claiining the 
direct Authority of the Assembly over the Army is defeated 
through the Aid of the Mountain. — Louis Napoleon again 
publicly announces his Policy. — New Bill introduced re- 
asserting the Authority of the Assembly over the Army, and 
defining Grounds for impeaching the President. — The 
Crisis approaches. 

It was whilst the public mind was almost exclusively 
occupied with the " revision " c[uestion that Louis Na- 
41 



482 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

poleon delivered the famous speech which clearly an- 
nounced to the world his fixed determination to ahide 
by the will of France^ come what might. A railroad 
was to be opened on the 1st of June at Dijon, to which 
ceremony the president and many other members of the 
government were invited. He accepted the invitation, 
and, starting from Paris the previous evening, spent the 
night in Sens, at the archbishop's palace. Here he was 
joined next morning by the ministers, the president of the 
Assembly, many representatives, and the other Parisian 
guests. His progress through the country resembled a 
triumph. '' Vive Najioleon ! " and ^'Vive FEmpereui' ! " 
were the only cries that greeted him at the stations. 
After dinner, the mayor of Dijon, in drinking the presi- 
dent's health, presented to the " inheritor of the name 
that had raised the glory of France highest all the best 
wishes of a country w^hich, without doubt, should find 
in the exercise of her sovereignty the best expression of 
her gratitude." 

The prince made the following reply : — 
'^ I wish that such persons as entertain apprehensions 
regarding the future had accompanied me through the 
populations of the Yonne and the Cote d'Or. They 
would have had their minds set at rest by being able to 
judge for themselves of the real state of public feeling. 
They would have seen that neither intrigue, nor attacks, 
nor passionate disciissions of parties are in harmony 
with' the sentiments and the situation of the country. 

*' France does not wish either the return of the ancient 
regime — no matter under what form it may be disguised 
— or the trial of evil and impracticable Utopias. It 
is because I am the most natural adversary of the one 
and the other, that she has placed her confidence in me. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 483 

If it be not so, how else can be explained this touch- 
ing sympathy entertained by the people towards me, 
"which, whilst it repels the most ruinous controversies, 
absolves me from being the cause of their sufferings ? 

" In fact, if my government has not realized all the 
ameliorations which it has had in view, the blame 
lies in the manoeuvres of factions which paralyze the 
good dispositions of Assemblies, as well as those of gov- 
ernments the most devoted to the public good. For 
the last three years it could be remarked that I was al- 
ways seconded whenever the question was to subdue 
disorder by coercive enactments. And whenever 1 
•wished to do good, to establish the landed influence or 
to ameliorate the condition of the poorer classes, I met 
with nothing but inertness. It is because you have 
shared those convictions that I have found in patriotic 
Burgundy such a reception as is at once for me both 
approbation and encouragement. 

" I take advantage of this banquet, as if it were a 
public tribune, to open to my fellow-citizens the bottom 
of my heart. A new phase of our political life is 
commencing. From one end of France to the other, 
petitions are being signed in favor of the revision of the 
constitution ; I await with confidence the manifestation 
of the country and the decision of the Assembly, which 
can only be actuated by the sole thought of the public 
good. If France feels that she must not be disposed of 
against her will, France has but to say so ; she shall not 
be without my courage and my energy. 

. " Since I came into power, I have proved how much, 
in the presence of the grave interests of society, I dis- 
regarded whatever affected myself personally. The most 
unjust and the most violent attacks have failed to affect 



484 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

my attitude of calmness. Whatever duties the country 
may impose^ she shall find me resolute to execute her 
will. And believe me, gentlemen;, Erance shall not 
perish in my hands." 

The prince sat down amid the most enthusiastic cheer- 
ing, in which, it is hardly necessary to say, the repre- 
sentatives present took no part. 

It may be easily imagined with w^hat displeasure these 
*^ detestable and factious phrases," as they v/ere termed, 
were received by the Assembly. The spirit of the 
whole debate to which they gave rise may be under- 
stood from General Changarnier's outbreak. The min- 
ister of war, speaking on a motion relative to military 
rewards, had protested against admitting any other doc- 
trine than that of passive obedience by the armxy to the 
orders of its chiefs. Colonel Charras, controverting 
this, said, "There are certain inexorable circumstances 
in which the law of obedience gives way, like all other 
laws. I hope," he added, half mockingly, " that there 
is no man enterprising enough to direct the battalions 
against the Assembly, as on the 18th of Brumaire." 

General Changarnier then stood up and said, — 

" A grave question has been raised ; and, in conse- 
quence of what has been said, I think it necessary to 
put an end to the apprehensions expressed by M. Charras. 
According to the assertions of certain persons, the army 
is ready, in its enthusiasm, to act against the laws of the 
country, and to change the form of government. In 
the first place, and to show that such cannot be the case, 
it is sufficient for me to ask. Where is there any motive 
for such enthusiasm ? (Laughter on the Left.) I may 
add, that the army, profoundly penetrated with the sen- 
timent of its duty, with the feeling of what is due to its 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 485 

own dignity, desires no more than you to inflict on 
France the wretchedness and shame of the government 
of the Caesars, when emperors were successively raised 
to power or hurled to the earth by drunken Praetorian 
Guards. (Great agitation.) Discipline is deeply rooted 
in the French army. The soldiers will always hear the 
voice of their chiefs ; but no one will ever induce the 
soldiers to march against the right, against the Assem- 
bly ; not a single battalion could be induced to follow 
for such a purpose, whoever might be the officers whom 
they are accustomed to obey. Consequently, represen- 
tatives of France, deliberate in peace." (Agitation.) 

But, however strongly the Assembly might condemn 
the president for his Dijon speech, it certainly raised him 
considerably in the general estimation throughout France. 
Petitions for the revision came in in greater numbers, 
and now nearly all expressed a wish to retain him at the 
head of affairs by prolonging the term of his presidency. 
From Paris and the neighborhood alone, a petition signed 
by eleven thousand artisans and manufacturers, besides 
demanding the revision, prayed for the prolongation of 
Louis Napoleon's powers for ten years. 

The discussion at last commenced on the 14th of 
July, and ended on the 19th. M. Berryer and the le- 
gitimists pleaded in favor of the total revision. General 
Cavaignac and his friends, unwilling to expose the re- 
publican institutions of the country to the least risk, 
were opposed to any revision whatever. The Mountain 
was opposed to revision as long as universal suffrage 
was restrained. The Bonapartists limited their wishes 
to an alteration of article 45, which prohibited the re- 
election of Louis Napoleon. To many this was the 
great redeeming feature of the constitution, fully com- 
41* 



486 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

pensating for all its defects. Victor Hugo especially 
distinguislied himself by his furious tirade against the 
president. 

" What ! " said he, " is it because, after a thousand 
years, a man came, and picked up the sword and sceptre 
of Charlemagne — is it because this man, whose name 
is synonymous with Rivoli, with Jena, with Friedland, 
dropped in his turn this sword and sceptre, that you want 
to pick them up ? Pick them up as he picked them up 
after Charlemagne ? Pick them up with your puny 
hands ? What ! after Augustus Augustulus ? What ! 
because we have had a Napoleon the Great, must we 
have a Napoleon the Little ? " 

Odillon Barrot closed the debate in an able speech. 
*' Every one acknowledges," said he, " the radical, the 
innate vices of the constitution. And is all society to 
be exposed to destruction because by a revision the pres- 
ent president might have a chance of being reelected ? 
Gentlemen, if you refuse to revise the constitution for 
this single reason, you give the man you thus reject a 
great part to play." 

When the voting took place the number present was 
124: : 446 were for the revision, 278 against it. Ac- 
cording to the terms of article 111, 543 in the affirma- 
tive were necessary. The project was then rejected. 
The defeat, effected by a union between the Orleanists 
and the Mountain, was generally expected, and created 
no surprise. Yet the country had so set its heart on 
the project that even during the month of August peti- 
tions praying for revision continued to come in, and 
eighty, out of the eighty-six departments of France, by 
their counsels general still expressed their strongest 
wishes for the measure. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 487 

This was tlie last battle of tlie campaign. The As- 
sembly adjourned from the 10th of August to the 4th 
of November, and, as usual, left behind a permanent 
committee of twenty-five charged to watch over the state 
in their absence. 

People now began talking of the candidates for the 
presidential chair of 1852. The Orleanists spoke of 
putting forward the Prince de Joinville, though he did 
not appear desirous to enter the contest — at least, he 
never declared his mind openly on the subject. The 
legitimists spoke of M. de la Rochejaquelein, with the 
expectation of his becoming another General Monk, and 
restoring the throne to Henry Y. Some republicans 
spoke of General Cavaignac, others of M. Carnot. A 
strong portion of the Bourgeoisie supported the claims 
of General Changarnier. The Mountain did not forget 
Ledru Kollin or Easpail. 

The country was becoming more and more uneasy. 
Whilst the Orleanist chiefs, meeting in London to cele- 
brate the anniversary of Louis Philippe's death, turned 
the mournful spectacle into a political manifestation, and 
the Count de Chambord, at his residence in Frohsdorff, 
near Vienna, was striking out plans for the coming cam- 
paign, the socialist chiefs were not idle. Many of the 
most active leaders had been discovered by the police, 
tried, and condemned ; but their places were readily 
filled by as ardent and as implacable successors. It 
often happened that the impatience of the poorer classes 
could not wait for the regular signal ; in many depart- 
ments in the centre, Cher, Allier, Nievre, &c., and in 
some in the south, as Ardeche, the excited peasantry 
rang the bells, collected together and marched through 
the country, uttering threats of pillage, conflagration. 



488 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

and death against the " Whites " and the ^^ Aristos." 
Such districts had to be declared in a state of siege ; 
the riotous bands were not always dispersed without 
bloodshed ; keeping the country in a constant state of 
alarm, they offered a fearful prelude to the grand insur- 
rection of 1852. 

What a deplorable condition France now presented ! 
We do not wish to dwell on the picture. It is enough 
to seize, the outlines. A network of secret societies 
covered the land. Poor unthinking people, suffering 
from poverty and its attendant evils, and forgetting that 
man is born to suffer, and that for the most of such 
grievances industry, patience, and Christian resignation 
form the only real and effectual remedy, were easily led 
astray by newer and more seductive doctrines. 

Interested or fanatic expositors had little difficulty in 
convincing them that the rich were naturally the ene- 
mies of the poor, that property was robbery, that law 
was tyranny, that society was a monstrous heap of 
abuses, of which an end should be made immediately 
by dissolving it into its original elementary condition, 
when nothing belonged to any body, and every thing was 
in common. In the new order of affairs there should 
be no rich, no poor, no prohibitions, no crimes, no pris- 
ons, no punishments, no wars, no religions, but all 
should socially dwell together, fraternally united by holy 
equality. People had become perfectly frenzied on such 
Utopias as these. They not only considered them real- 
izable, but deemed themselves justified in going any 
lengths to enforce them. Confiscation of property and 
destruction of life were regarded as perfectly lawful 
means for such an end. " Vive la Guillotine 1 " was as 
common a cry almost as '^ Vive la Repuhlique ! " Y/hea 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 489 

they tliouglit an opportunity appeared tKey took advan- 
tage of it, and they fought with all the brayery of en- 
thusiasm, and all the coolness of settled conviction. See 
the carnage of the battles of July. Ten thousand lives 
lost in three days in one city ! 

"What was to resist this furious torrent when it would 
burst on France in 1852 ? Nothing but the army could 
attempt it. But was the army willing to attempt it ? 
That depends upon its having a recognized leader. Such 
a leader neither Changarnier nor Cavaignac could pre- 
tend to be. Any popular general might rally a few 
troops around his standard in the terrible melee, but no 
one will venture to say that the army, generally, would 
yield the devoted obedience that constitutes the real 
effectiveness of an army to any leader but the nephew 
of him who had made French soldier and hero synony- 
mous terms. What could the Assembly do ? It was 
already despised, if not detested, throughout France, as 
an obstacle in the way of effectual government. Its un- 
wise conduct had too often made the people regard it, 
we do not say altogether deservedly, as a disjointed con- 
glomeration of talking, self-seeking, ill-mannered indi- 
viduals, earning their twenty-five francs a day by doing 
as much mischief as they could. Could such an As- 
sembly keep down the insurrection ? Plainly not. 
Could Henry V., or the Prince de Joinville, at the head 
of their partisans, preserve order ? No honest, think- 
ing man, legitimist or Orleanist, will say so. 

What then was the state of things ? The countiy 
was on the verge of a frightful revolution. The execu- 
tive, with all its vigilance, could do no more than defer 
the explosion. The Assembly, instead of assisting the 
president to govern legally and constitutionally^ ren- 



490 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

dered sucli a course on liis part almost impossible. For 
fear Louis jSTapoleon Bonaparte might be their legal, 
constitutional president in 185S, they would not revise 
an impracticable constitution, though implored to do so 
by two millions of petitioners, and by eighty out of the 
eighty-six departments of France. They persisted in 
refusing the right to vote to three millions of French 
citizens, though it was by their votes that they them- 
selves had obtained authority. Carried away by the 
petulant wit of Victor Hugo, the sneering selfishness 
of Tliiers, by their own cankered prejudices, by every 
thing but common sense and a proper regard for the 
voice of the nation at large, they entered into a con- 
spiracy to seize the president on a charge of high trea- 
son, and fling into prison, perhaps shoot, the very man 
on whose head the safety of France, of Europe, was 
depending. What did Louis Napoleon intend to do in 
the case ? To give up to his unreasoning enemies, and 
thus plunge France into one of the bloodiest civil wars 
that ever deluged the earth? No. He thought he 
could not do so until France had spoken her mind on 
the subject. She had elected him to protect her, and 
she looked at him still as her only hope of safety. She 
should be consulted. Her will was the foundation of 
all authority. He would make one more attempt to in- 
duce the Assembly to call upon the voice of the nation. 
If the Assembly' consented — well and good, let affairs 
take their course. If the Assembly did not consent — 
then the appeal should be made without the consent of 
the Assembly. Such was his final resolve. 

But was not this a violation of fiis oath to the consti- 
tution ? Was not this perjury ? It may have been a' 
verbal violation of his oath, but we must confess, as far 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 491 

as we can judge, to us it does not seem perjury. 
Perjury is breaking a lawful oatli, or taking an unlaw- 
ful one. No one says he took an unlawful, and we do 
not think he broke a lawful, oath. At first sight no oath 
seems more lawful, or more inviolable, than the oath of 
allegiance to the constitution of our country. But even 
of such an oath circumstances may arise of a nature to 
render the obligatory power very doubtful. Such an 
oath acts both ways. When we swear to obey the con- 
stitution, it is with the well understood though not ex- 
jpressed condition, that if we owe it obedience it owes us 
protection. Its failure, through inability, or unwilling- 
ness, in complying with its obligation, should absolve us 
from ours. When Louis Napoleon swore to obey the 
constitution, who can say that he then bound himself to 
a blind, unconditional obedience to mere words, to be 
rigidly followed out, even if it led to the destruction of 
the country ? Clearly, he was obliged to take the oath 
only because every body thought that the constitution 
would prove beneficial to France. The inviolability of 
a constitution seems to us to depend altogether on its 
utility. If even tolerably good, it should be sacred and 
inviolable ; if evidently bad and unsuitable, every means 
should be taken to reform it immediately. For, what is 
the constitution ? Is it a divine precept, Hke the com- 
mandments ? If so, no consideration whatever can jus- 
tify its infraction, because it comes from God. Is it an 
instrument framed by the wisdom of man so skilfully 
and wisely as to prove the means of insuring to the 
generality even a moderate share of tranquillity, liberty, 
and happiness ? Then also is its violation unjustifiable, 
for it would be a fearful injury to society. But if it is 
a document which not only does not insure even tolera- 



492 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

ble tranquillity, liberty, or happiness, but from its very 
nature contains such radical defects as to make anarchy, 
or, at all events, universal confusion, almost an inevitable 
consequence, then is it perjury to violate it ? Hardly. 
Self-preservation is the first law of nature. If a man. 
takes an oath which, he afterwards finds out, denies him 
the right to defend himself in case of a murderous at- 
tack, is he bound to observe it ? Our great "Washington 
had not a spark of personal ambition in his noble na- 
ture ; but if he clearly saw that his country was in such 
a state that it was only waiting for the termination of 
his first presidential term to blaze out into a terrible 
civil war, would he have retired unconcernedly at the 
end of the four years ? We doubt it. We will even 
say, supposing he was convinced, — provided always the 
country evidently agreed with his conclusions — that our 
constitution, from its nature, could not enable people to 
live together peaceably, that it was unfitted for the coun- 
try, that it was a curse instead of a blessing, it is our 
decided opinion that he would be bound in conscience 
to pronounce it a false constitution, no constitution at 
all, -and that, moreover, he should feel himself obliged to 
employ every means in his power, even a temporary 
usurpation of the sovereign authority if necessary, to 
rescue the country from the impending calamities. 

Taking every thing into consideration, then, the nat- 
ural conclusion seems to be this : if Louis Napoleon 
thought that the constitution was satisfactory in its prin- 
ciples and provisions to the French people generally, or 
that it afibrded them even a tolerable chance of a gov- 
ernment able to maintain itself, to defend its subjects 
from violence, and to distribute justice — if he believed 
this and still violated the constitution, then he was a 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 493 

■Qsurper and a perjurer. But if he believed the con- 
stitution^ from its glaring unfitness, to be an execration 
in the mouths of four fifths of the community — which 
it was ; if he believed that its continuance would only- 
plunge the country into a horrible suicidal contest — 
which, to judge from the signs of the times, hardly ad- 
mits the shadow of a doubt ; if he thought himself 
able to spare the world the sin, the horror, and the ago- 
ny of such an impious war — and subsequent circum- 
stances have shown that he was not wrong in his calcu- 
lation ; then we say, idol as he already was of the 
vast majority of the French people, heir as he was al- 
ready by prescriptive right to the imperial throne, pos- 
sessed as he already was of the sovereign authority 
elected as he had been by six millions to watch over the 
welfare of Erance, he was instigated by every motive 
of honor, humanity, and patriotism, to do exactly as he 
has done. He saw the difiiculties of his situation, he 
devised the means of overcoming them, he staked his 
life on the venture, he succeeded, and thus put off the 
fearful day, perhaps for a long time. Instead of crying 
out " treachery " then, " perjury," or " usurpation," all 
good Frenchmen should, as universal France at present 
does, recognize the vast benefits resulting to the country 
from the reign of such a man ; and if they do not, like 
some, see the hand of Heaven leading him to the impe- 
rial throne, to save society from the fearful perils that 
are still impending over Europe, they should at least 
consider it as an extremely fortunate circumstance for 
France that he has shown himself, so far, the right man 
in the right place at the right time. 

To resume our narrative. Louis Napoleon was deter- 
mined to have the restrained suffrage law of the 31st of 
42 



494 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

May repealed. Many of his ministers not agreeing 
"with him as to the propriety of such a measure, he ac- 
cepted their resignation on the 15th of October, and 
after two months of a ministerial crisis, he had another 
cabinet formed, in which Leroy St. Arnaud, a general 
who had gained great distinction in Africa, was minister 
of war, and M. de Maupas, prefect of Haute Garonne, 
minister of police. On the 4th of November the As- 
sembly returned, and the minister of the interior read 
the annual message, which, after a few preliminaries, 
thus opened : — 

'' A vast demagogical conspiracy is now organizing in 
France and Europe. Secret societies are endeavoring to 
extend their ramifications even into the smallest com- 
munes. Without being able to agree on men or things, 
they have agreed to bring all the madness, the violence, 
and the obduracy of parties to a focus in 1852, not to 
construct, but to overthrow. 

" Your patriotism and your courage, with which I will 
endeavor to keep pace, will, I am sure, save France from 
the dangers with which she is threatened. But to con- 
quer these dangers we must look at them without fear 
and without exaggeration ; and, whilst convinced, 
thanks to the strength of the administration, to the en- 
lightened zeal of the magistrates, and to the devotion of 
the army, that France cannot perish, let us unite our ef- 
forts to deprive the spirit of evil even of the hope of a 
momentary success. 

" The best means to attain this end has always ap- 
peared to me the application of that system which con- 
sists, on the one hand, in satisfying the legitimate inter- 
ests ; and, on the other, in stifling, at the moment of 
their appearance, the slightest symptoms of an attack 
against religion, morality, or society. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 495 

^' Thus, to procure labor by granting to companies our 
great lines of railway^ and with tbe money wliicb tbe 
state will procure fi'om these projects to give a strong 
impulse to the other works in all the departments ; to 
encourage the institutions destined to develop agricultu- 
ral or commercial credit ; to come, by the establishment 
of charitable institutions, to the assistance of poverty, — 
such has been, and such still must be, our first care ; and 
it is by following this course that it will be easier to re- 
cur to means of repression when their necessity shall 
have become felt." 

After describing the state of the country, he comes to 
the grand featui'e of the message — the restoration of 
universal suffrage. He uses every argument to ui'ge 
them to an adoption of the measure. 

*^ The state of general uneasiness," he says, " is in- 
creasing every day. Employment grows slack, poverty 
spreads, the interests become more apprehensive, and ex- 
pectations hostile to society become more exulting as the 
almost exhausted public authorities approach their 
term. 

" In such a state of things, my duty is the same to- 
day as it was yesterday. It consists in maintaining or- 
der, and in removing every occasion of disturbance, so 
that the resolutions which are to decide our fate may be 
conceived in tranquillity and adopted in peace. 

" These resolutions can emanate only from a decisive 
act of the national sovereignty,, since they have popular 
election for a basis. Well ! I have asked myself whether, 
in the presence of the delirium of passions, of the confu- 
sion of doctrines, of the division of parties, when every 
thing is combined to attack morality, justice, and au- 
thority, we ought to leave shaken and incomplete the 



496 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

only principle wMch, in the middle of tlie general chaos. 
Providence has kept standing to rally us around it. 

" Since universal suffrage has reconstructed the social 
edifice by substituting a right for a revolutionary fact, is 
it wise in us to narrow its basis any longer ? Finally, 
I have asked myself if, when new powers sha^ preside 
over the destinies of the country, it would not be com- 
promising their stability beforehand to leave behind us 
a pretext for questioning their origin, or for misrepre- 
senting their legitimacy ? 

^^ No doubt on the subject was possible ; and without 
wishing to swerve for a single instant from the policy 
of order which I have always followed out, I have been 
obliged, much to my regret, to separate from 'a cabinet 
which possessed all my confidence, in order to choose 
another, which, equally composed of honorable men 
publicly known for their conservative sentiments, has 
moreover consented to admit the necessity of rees-" 
tablishing universal suffrage on the broadest possible 
basis. 

" You will, therefore, have presented to you the 
draught of a law which restores the principle in all its 
fulness. 

"The project has no features which can offend this 
Assembly ; for, if I think it expedient to ask to-day for 
the withdrawal of the law of the 31st of May, I do not 
mean to deny the approbation which I gave at that time 
to the cabinet which claimed from the chief of the ma- 
jority, whose work it was, the honor of presenting it. 

" If we remember the circumstances under which this 
law was presented, we shall not, I believe, refuse to al- 
low that it was an act of policy, rather than an electoral 
law, that it was really and truly a measure to insure the 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 497 

public tranquillity. "Whenever the majority shall pro- 
pose to me energetic measures for the safety of the 
country, it may rely on my loyal and disinterested sup- 
port. But even the best of such measui'es have but a 
limited time. 

"The law of the 31st of May has, in its application, 
even gone beyond the object intended to be attained. 
No one foresaw the suppression of three millions of elec- 
tors, two thirds of whom are peaceful inhabitants of the 
country. What has been the result ? Why, that this 
exclusion has served as a pretext to the anarchist party, 
who cloak their detestable designs by appearing to con- 
quer back a right of which they had been despoiled. 
Too weak in numbers to take possession of society 
by their votes, they hope, under favor of the general emo- 
tion and the decline of the powers of the state, to kindle 
at several points of France, instantaneously, troubles 
which would be quelled, no doubt, but which should 
inevitably throw us into fresh complications. 

'' Another serious objection is this : The constitution 
requires, for the validity of the election of a president 
by the people, at least two millions of suffrages ; and if 
this number is not made up, the right of election is 
conferred on the Assembly. The Constituent Assembly 
had therefore decided that, out of ten million voters in- 
scribed on the lists, one fifth was sufficient to render the 
election valid. 

" At the present time, the number of electors being 
reduced to seven millions, to require two milhons is to 
invert the proportion ; that is to say, it is to demand 
one third instead of one fifth, and thus, in a certain 
eventuality, to take the election out of the hands of the 
people, and give it to the Assembly. It is, therefore, 
42* 



498 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

positively clianging tlie condition of the eligibility of the 
president of the republic. 

" Lastly, I call your particular attention to another 
reason, which, perhaps, may prove decisive. 

"The reestablishment of universal suffrage on its 
principal basis furnishes an additional chance of obtain- 
ing the revision of the constitution. You have not for- 
gotten why the adversaries of this revision refused last 
session to vote for it. They used this argument, which 
they knew how to render specious : ' The constitution,' 
said they, ^ which is the work of an Assembly taking 
its rise in universal suffrage, cannot be modified by an 
Assembly issuing from a restricted suffrage.' Whether 
this be a real motive, or only a pretext, it is expedient 
to set it aside, and be able to say to those who would 
bind the country down to an immutable constitution, 
' Behold universal suffrage reestablished. The majority 
of the Assembly, supported by two millions of petition- 
ers, by the greater number of the councils of arrondisse- 
ment, and almost unanimously by the councils general, 
demands the revision of the fundamental compact. Have 
you less confidence than we in the expression of the 
popular will ? ' 

'^ The question, therefore, may be thus stated to all 
those who desire a pacific solution of the difiiculties of 
the day: ^The law of the 31st of May has its imper- 
fections ; but even were it perfect, should it not, never- 
theless, be repealed if it resists the revision of the con- 
stitution, that manifest wish of the country ? ' 

^^ It is objected, I am aware, that on my part these 
proposals are inspired by personal interest. My conduct 
for the last three years ought to repel such an allegation. 
The welfare of the country, I repeat, will always be the 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 499 

sole moving spring of my conduct. I believe it my duty 
to propose every means of conciliation, and to use every 
effort to bring about a pacific, regular, legal solution, 
whatever may be its issue. 

" Thus, then^ gentlemen, the proposal I make to you 
is neither a piece of party tactics, nor an egotistical cal- 
culation, nor a sudden resolution ; it is the result of seri- 
ous meditation and of profound conviction. I do not pre- 
tend that this measure will banish all the difiiculties of 
the situation. But to each day its own task. 

'" To-day to reestablish universal suffrage is to deprive 
civil war of its flag, the opposition of its last argument. 
It is to furnish France with the possibility of giving 
itself institutions which may insure its tranquillity. It 
is to give the future powers of the state that moral force 
which can only exist so long as it reposes on a conse- 
crated principle, and on an incontestable authority." 

The message, generally, was heard with much atten- 
tion ; towards the conclusion, however, where the presi- 
dent brought forward his arguments in favor of repeal- 
ing the existing electoral law, the conservative benches 
repeatedly gave expression to their disapprobation. 

M. Thorigny, the new minister of the interior, then 
read the proposed bill repealing the law of the 31st of 
May, 1850, and reestablishing that which declared every 
Frenchman an elector who was twenty-one years of age, 
and who had resided six months in the same commune. 
The Assembly did not seem much impressed with the 
importance of an early decision upon the question. 
Nine days elapsed before it was brought before the 
house for regular discussion, and then, in spite of all 
the exertions of the government, and of every sincere 
firiend of liberty, it was rejected by a majority of three 



500 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

votes. Have three votes ever liad such consequences ? 
Unhappy three votes ! You destroyed for many a long 
day the only favorable opportunity France ever pos- 
sessed of realizing her ardent and natural aspirations 
after liberty. 

Troops began arriving in Paris in unusual numbers. 

The adversaries of the government now seemed de- 
termined on bringing matters to a crisis. Whilst the 
committee were still sitting on the revision bill, a prop- 
osition was brought forward declaring that the questors, 
or executive officers of the Assembly, were empowered, 
by the 3Sd article of the constitution, to make a direct 
requisition on the army, that is, to call out whatever 
number of forces they pleased without employing the 
intervention of the minister of war. This would, of 
course, establish a military power in the state, independ- 
ent of the president of the republic. This 3 2d article, 
as already quoted, declared that " the National Assembly 
fixed the number of troops necessary for its safety, and 
could dispose of them.'''' But as article 50th distinctly 
stated that " the president of the republic disposed of the 
armed forces j''' and, as according to article 64th, " he 
alone nominated every civil and military functionary, " 
article 3 2d evidently only meant that the Assembly 
could declare the amount of troops necessary for its 
safety, and that as soon as these were placed at its dispo- 
sal, it had the sole right to command them. To claim 
that the Assembly had the right to make a direct requi- 
sition, to call on the army at pleasure, seemed as much 
as to say that the constitution required soldiers to receive 
contradictory orders from different commanders at the 
same time. 

Subversive of all military discipline as this proposal 



LIFE OP NAPOLEOX III, 501 

was^ stilly on the ITtli of November^ it received tlie votes 
of three hundred representatives^, and its defeat was 
altogether due to an unexpected accession of aid from 
the Mountain party, who said, if they were to have a 
dictator at all, that they preferred Louis Napoleon to 
General Changarnier. Of the thirty-two generals that 
voted, seven only were in the minority ; but among these 
were Lamericiere, Changarnier, and Cavaignac. 

On the 25th of jSTovember there v/as a splendid cere- 
mony celebrated in the circus of the Champs Elysees. 
It was attended by the president, the ministers, the 
generals, the foreign ambassadors, the members of the 
council of state, and other distinguished personages. 
Medals and crosses of the Legion of Honor were to be 
distributed to the French contributors that had gained 
prizes at the great London exhibition. The spectators, 
the elite of Paris, amounted to three or four thousand, 
and presented a very brilliant and animated spectacle. 
In his speech on this occasion, the president spoke out 
clearly and resolutely. " France," said he, " must no 
longer be troubled by demagogical ideas or monarchical 
hallucinations." Here he was loudly cheered. "Before 
separating, gentlemen," he concluded, "permit me to 
encourage you to new labors. Undertake them without 
apprehension. They will keep the people employed 
during the winter. Do not dread the future ; tranquillity 
shall he maintained whatever may happen. A govern- 
ment resting on the people, having no other aim than 
the public good, and animated by the faith that guides 
us even through trackless routes — such a government 
will fulfil its mission, for it unites in itself both the right 
that comes from the people and the might that comes 
from God." 



502 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

Though defeated on the ITth, the royalists now pre- 
pared another attack on Louis Napoleon. A bill assert- 
ing the Assembly's, not the questors', right to direct 
requisition, decreeing the responsibility of the president, 
and enumerating the cases in which he made himself 
liable to be accused of high treason, was laid before the 
house on the 22d of November. One article which it 
contained interdicted as a crime even the desire to be 
reelected ; it ran thus : " The president can be accused 
if he makes himself guilty of provoMng the abrogation 
of the 45th article of the constitution." 

This bill was likely to pass, for the Mountain, whose 
precarious assistance had sustained the government on 
the 17th, could be easily detached by the promise of 
raising the state of siege in those departments where it 
existed, and by the assurance of a new electoral law. 
When it passed, what was easier than to indict the pres- 
ident ? The act of accusation, prepared by M. Baze, 
was ready. It would be carried as easily as the bill. 
By the right of direct requisition all the armed force of 
the country would be placed under the command of a 
general devoted to the Assembly, and the president of 
the republic would be thus left completely in the power 
of his enemies, who had not yet decided whether to send 
him to Otaheite or to shoot him in the moat of Vincennes. 
The bill was referred for report to a committee of fifteen, 
containing only one member favorable to the executive. 
The report of course could be easily guessed. 

The following decrees, found in the questors' office 
after the events of the Sd of December, had been 
already prepared, so that nothing more was necessary, 
when the moment for action came, than to fill up the 
blanks : — - 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 503 

FIRST DECREE. 

'' The president of the National Assembly, 

" Considering article o2 of the constitution thus con- 
ceived, — ' The Assembly fixes the amount of the mili- 
tary forces necessary for its safety, and disposes of them ; ' 

" Considering the orderly decree of the Assembly thus 
conceived, — * The president is charged with the safety 
of the Assembly internally and externally ; " 

" Accordingly exercises in the name of the Assembly 
the right conferred on the legislative power by the 33d 
article of the constitution to fix the number of the mili- 
tary force necessary for its safety, and to dispose of them ; 

"And orders M. to take immediately the 

command of all the forces, as well of the army as of the 
National Guard, stationed in the first military division, to 
secure the safety of the National Assembly. 

" Given at the Palace of the Assembly this ." 

SECOND DECREE. 

" The president of the National Assembly, 

" Considering Article 32d of the constitution, &c. ; 

^^ Considering the orderly decree, &c. ; 

" Orders every general, every commander of a corps, 
or of a detachment of the army and of the National 
Guard, stationed in the first military division, to obey 

the orders of General , charged with the defence 

of the National Assembly. 

" Given at the Palace of the Assembly this ." 

Thus every thing was prepared, the batteries were 
erected, the guns loaded, success seemed certain. Clearly, 
if Louis Napoleon was determined to do any thing, the 
moment of decisive action had now arrived. 



504: LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

The Goup WEtat. — The Soiree, — Last Orders. — The Decree 
and Proclamations. — Principal Points of Paris possessed 
by the Troops, — Arrest of all Persons lihely to prove dan- 
gerous. — Tranquillity of the City. — Details. 

* Monday evenings had been reserved for receptions 
by the president of the republic ; and on Monday even- 
ing, December 1, 1851, a brilliant crowd was assem- 
bled in the saloons of the Elysee. Louis Napoleon was 
particularly courteous and affable, moving through his 
guests with a smile or a pleasant remark for all. About 
ten o'clock, leaning carelessly against the mantel-piece, 
and apparently watching the dancers with pleased in- 
terest, he saw Colonel Yieyra pass by, and called him. 
The colonel had lately been appointed brigade major of 
the National Guards of Paris, now under the command 
of General Lawastine. 

" Colonel," said the prince, with a smiling air, '' are 
you sufficiently master of yourself to conceal a sudden 
emotion ? " 

" Certainly," replied the colonel. 

'^^ We]l,^then/' said Louis Napoleon, in a low voice, 
bending towards him, " this is the night ! Good ! you 
have not stirred. Now, can you assure me that to- 
morrow there shall be no rappel beaten, whatever may 
happen, and that no convocation of the National Guards 
shall be held in the mayoralties ? " 

"I will answer for it, if I receive the necessary 
orders." 

'' For these see the minister of war. See him from 
me. Don't go yet. We are observed," 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 505 

The guests retired before midniglit^ and Louis Napo- 
leon, with his secretary, M. Mocquard, withdrew to his 
cabinet. He was not long there when three persons, M. 
de Persigny, General St. Arnaud, minister of war, and 
M. de Morny, were admitted. M. de Morny, though a 
member of deliberative assemblies for the last ten years, 
had never sought after public distinction. His speeches 
were always, however, cool and sensible, and were char- 
acterized by a certain ability which showed that if he chose 
to exert himself he might aspire to fame. His gallant ^ 
conduct whilst a soldier in Africa left his courage un- 
questioned. Possessed of a fine fortune, and endowed 
with elegant manners, he seemed tp find the life of a 
leader of fashionable society more congenial than that 
of a statesman. However, he was the intimate friend 
of" Louis Napoleon, and, possessing all his confidence, 
now came forward to stand by him in his utmost need. 
This evening he had passed part of his time at the the- 
atre of the Comic Opera. A lady with whom he was 
sitting in the boxes complained that the Assembly and 
the labors of parliament had monopolized all the men 
who had been the most distinguished ornaments of 
society. 

'' But you shall soon come back to us," she added, 
with a laugh. "You're all going to be swept out." 

'^ Madam," replied De Morny, gayly, " I don't know 
when the broom shall come to sweep us out, but I know 
J will try to be on the side of the handle." 

The last conference of the president with his friends 
was short and solemn. He told them that, as some of 
the ministers whom he had sounded on the subject ap- 
peared to shrink from the responsibility of the contem- 
plated measure, he had somewhat modified the cabinet, 
43 



506 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

and that M. de Morny was now minister of tlie interior, 
in place of M. de Tliorigny. " Then/' according to the 
" Histoire du deux Decemhre,^^ ^^ before separating from 
his accomplices, the prince opened with a little key, sus- 
pended from his watch-guard, the drawer of a bureau, 
and gave to each a sealed packet. Then, grasping their 
hands, and speaking in a voice as calm as on the most 
ordinary occasions, ^ Now, gentlemen,' said he, ' take 
a little repose, and may God protect France ! ' " 

The night passed in the greatest tranquillity. Nothing 
occurred to create a suspicion that, the most complete 
revolution that ever took place was to be perfectly ac- 
complished in the space of a few hours. When the 
Parisians awoke in the morning, they learned, as if by 
instinct, that something had happened. As the day 
dawned, the proclamations, posted on the walls all 
through the city, became visible, and the people, eager 
for the news, read the following papers with an aston- 
ishment not far removed from admiration. A daring 
act is always applauded. The general exclamation was, 
" It was well played ;" with this proviso often added, 
" Will it succeed ? " 

First appeared the decree : — 

*' In the name of the French people, 

" The president of the republic decrees : — 

'^ Art. 1. The National Assembly is dissolved. 

"Art. 2. Universal suffrage is reestablished. The 

law of the 31st of May is annulled. 

" Art. 3. The French people are convoked for their 

votes from the 14th to the 21st of l)ecember. 

" Art. 4. The state of siege is decreed throughout 

the first military division. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 507 

" Art. 5. The council of state is dissolved. 
'^Art. 6. The minister of the interior is charged 
with the execution of the present decree. 

'^ Given at the Palace of the Elysee, the 2d of De- 
cember^ 1851. 

'' Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. 

"De Morny, Minister of the Interior.'' 

Next came this address to the army, which had all at 
once become the safeguard of society in these perilous 
circumstances : — 

'' Soldiers : Be proud of your mission ; you will 
save your country ; for I depend on you not to violate 
the laws, but to enforce the first law of the country, 
respect to the national sovereignty, of which I am the 
legal representative. 

" For a long time have you suffered, as I have done, 
from the obstacles that were raised against the advan- 
tages which I wished to confer on you. These obsta- 
cles have been swept away. The Assembly threatened 
the authority which I hold from the whole nation. The 
Assembly has ceased to exist. 

" I make an honorable appeal to the people and to the 
army ; and I say, ^ Either give me the means of assuring 
your prosperity, or choose another in my place.' 

"In 1830, as in 1848, you were treated as the van- 
q^uished party. After blighting your heroic disinterest- 
edness, they disdained to consult your sympathies and 
your wishes. Yet you are the elite of the nation. To- 
day, at this solemn moment, I am resolved that the army 
shall be heard. 

" Yote, then, freely as citizens ; but as soldiers do 



508 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

not forget that passive obedience to the orders of the 
chief of the government is the rigorous duty of the army, 
from the general to the private soldier. It is for me, 
responsible as I am for my actions to the people and to 
posterity, to take the measures which seem to me indis- 
pensable for the public goocL 

^'^ As for you, remain immovable in the rules of disci- 
pline and order. Aid, by your imposing attitude, the 
country to manifest its will in tranquillity and with re- 
flection. Be ready to repress every attempt against the 
free exercise of the sovereignty of the people. 

^' Soldiers ! I do not speak to you of the remem- 
brances which my name recalls. They are engraved in 
your hearts. We are united by indissoluble ties. Your 
history is mine. There is between us in the past a com- 
munity of glory and misfortune. There shall be between 
us in the future a community of sentiments and resolu- 
tions for the repose and grandeur of France. 

'* Given at the Palace of the Elysee, the 2d of De- 
cember, 1851. 

" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

In this address, it will be seen, the president particu- 
larly called upon the army to cause the free expression 
of the universal will to be respected. 

In his address to the people he called upon them, if 
they were dissatisfied with his conduct, to choose some 
other ruler in his place ; but if they had confidence in 
Mm, to give him the authority necessary for the establish- 
ment of an effective government. 

^^ Frenchmen : The present state of things can last 
no longer. Every day, as it passes, aggravates the 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 509 

dangers of the country. The Assembly, which ought to 
be the firmest support of order, has become the centre 
of conspiracies. The patriotism of three hundred of its 
members has not been able to arrest its fatal tendencies. 
Instead of making laws for the general interest, it forged 
arms for civil w^ar ; it attacked the power which I hold 
directly from the people ; it encouraged all bad passions ; 
it compromised the repose of France. I have dissolved 
it, and I make the people judge between it and myself. 

" The constitution was made, as you know, with the 
intention of weakening beforehand the powers which 
you were about to confide to me. Six millions of votes 
were a striking protest against it ; and yet I faithfully 
respected it. Provocations, calumnies, and outrages 
found me impassable. But now that the fundamental 
compact is no longer respected by those even who inces- 
santly invoke it, and that the same men who have al- 
ready ruined two monarchies wish to tie my hands in 
order to overthrow the republic, my duty is to bafile 
their perfidious projects, to maintain the republic, and to 
save the country, by invoking the solemn judgment of 
the only sovereign I acknowledge in France — the people. 

" I make, then, a loyal appeal to the entire nation, 
and I say, If you wish to continue this state of disqui- 
etude which disgraces us and compromises our future, 
choose another in my place, for I will no longer retain 
an authority which is powerless to do good, which ren- 
ders me responsible for acts that I cannot prevent, and 
which chains me to the helm when I see the vessel 
plunging into the abyss. 

"If, on the contrary, you still have confidence in me, 
give me the means of accomphshing the great mission 
which I hold from you. 
43* 



510 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

" This mission consists in closing th.e era of revolu- 
tions by satisfying the legitimate wants of the people, 
and by protecting them against subversive passions. It 
consists, especially, in creatiug institutions which can 
survive men, and which are the foundations on which 
something durable can be placed. 

" Persuaded that the instability of the government, 
and the preponderance of a single Assembly, are con- 
stant sources of trouble and dissension, I submit to your 
suffrages the following fundamental bases of a constitu- 
tion, which the Assemblies will hereafter develop : — 

^^ 1. A responsible chief, named for ten years. 

" 2. Ministers dependent upon the executive power 
alone. 

" o. A council of state, composed of the most dis- 
tinguished men, preparing laws and maintaining their 
discussion before the legislative body. 

"4. A legislative body, discussing and voting the 
laws, and chosen by universal suffrage, without scruti- 
nizing the list, which violates the electoral principle. 

" 5. A second Assembly, composed of the most dis- 
tinguished men of the country — a preponderating power, 
a guardian of the fundamental compact, and of the pub- 
lic liberties. 

"This system, created by the first consul at the com- 
mencement of the century, has already given to France 
repose and prosperity ; it would still guarantee them. 

" Such is my profound conviction. If you share in 
it, declare it by your votes. If, on the contrary, you ' 
prefer a government without strength, monarchical or 
republican, taken from what I know not chimerical past 
or future, reply in the negative. 

^* Thus, then, for the first time since 1804, you will 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 511 

vote with a knowledge of wliat you are about, knowing 
whom and what you are voting for. 

" If I do not obtain the majority of your suffrages, I 
shall call the meeting of a new Assembly, to which 
I shall return the charge which I have received from 
you. 

" But if you believe that the cause of which my 
name is the symbol — that is, France regenerated by the 
revolution of 1789, and organized by the emperor — if 
you believe that that cause is still yours, proclaim it by 
consecrating the powers which I ask of you. 

'' Then will France and Europe be preserved from 
anarchy ; obstacles will be removed ; rivalries will have 
disappeared ; for all will respect, in the decision of the 
people, the decree of Providence. 

" Given at the Palace of the Elysee, the 2d of Decem- 
ber, 1851. 

"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

The people also read a decree regulating the manner 
of voting. Every Frenchman of twenty-one years of 
age, residing six months in the same commune, was an 
elector, and his name was to accompany his vote. He 
was simply to answer " yes " or *^ no " to the following 
proposition : — 

'' The French people wills the maintenance of the au- 
thority of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and delegates to 
him the powers necessary to frame a constitution on the 
bases proposed in his proclamation of the 2d of De- 
cember." 

The lists containing the answers, negative or affirma- 
tive, were to remain open for eight days, from the 14th 
to the 21st of December, both included. The clause. 



512 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

however^, requiring tlie name to accompany the Yote 
created sucli general dissatisfaction that Louis Napoleon^ 
with much prudence^ very promptly altered it next day 
for the old system of secret ballot. 

Besides these documents, the people also read another, 
signed by De Maupas, prefect of police, calling on all 
good citizens to assist in preserving the public tranquillity, 
so that the free exercise of the popular sovereignty 
should be solemnly manifested, and plainly declaring 
that any attempt at disorder would be promptly and in- 
flexibly repressed. But there seemed to be no desire to 
create disorder. The people, collected in great nurnbers 
on the corners or other points of interest, looked on 
quietly at the troops parading through the streets, talked 
over the new aspect of affairs, and all at once remem- 
bered that the 2d of December was the anniversary of 
Napoleon's coronation in 1804, and of the most glori- 
ous of his victories, that of Austerlitz, in 1805. They 
did not offer the least opposition, and, indeed, soon 
learned that insurrection was almost impossible. There 
had been seventy-eight arrests effected simultaneously at 
six o'clock in the morning. Of these, eighteen were 
influential members of the Assembly. Generals pos- 
sessing great influence in the army, and orators, consid- 
ered to be implicated, more or less, in the conspiracy ; 
the sixty others were heads of secret societies, or barri- 
cade commanders, always prepared to get up an insur- 
rection at the shortest notice. It was an undisputed fact. 
A revolution had been accomplished. Louis Napoleon's 
measures, with all their difficulty and complication, had 
been so well conceived, prepared, and executed ; every 
thing, apparently the most trifling, had been so well 
foreseen and provided for, and all with a secrecy which 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 513 

left even tlie most trusty agents in the dark, that the 
most complete success had been obtained on all points. 
He was now, at least for a while, perfect master of 
France. There was no one who possessed the power or 
the popularity to oppose him. As was well said at the 
time, and the mot passed rapidly from mouth to mouth, 
" 1852 was dead." By degrees the people learned most 
of the particulars of the late transaction. 

The printing and publishing of the decrees and procla- 
mations had been intrusted to M. de Beville, a lieuten- 
ant colonel on the staff, and an orderly sergeant of the 
president. He had gone the previous day to inform M. 
de Saint Georges, director of the national printing office, 
that, some important work having to be done that night, 
the men were to be in readiness. De Saint Georges had 
all his men at their post at the appointed time, and at 
twelve o'clock M. de Beville made his appearance. The 
carriage in which he had come was drawn under a shed, 
and the driver conducted into a room where he was im- 
mediately locked up, wiled away the hours as well as he 
could with the help of wine and tobacco, which had been 
placed there for the purpose. At the same moment a 
company of armed police, who had been on duty to pro- 
tect the printing office against some pretended dangers, 
entered the yard. A letter from the minister of war 
commanded the captain to obey M. de Saint Georges 
passively. Sentinels were immediately placed at the 
doors and windows, with the strictest orders to prevent 
all communication with the outside. It was only when 
these precautions had been taken that De Beville pro- 
duced the papers which had been intrusted to him. De 
Saint Georges distributed the copy among the composi- 
tors, and in an hour the press was at work. When the 



514 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

printing was finislied, the papers were concealed in the 
seats of the carriage, the driver was freed from his con- 
finement, and De Beville and De Saint Georges drove 
to the head police office, where M. de Maupas was wait- 
ing for them. The proclamations were then handed to 
a small number of determined men, with orders to pla- 
card them all over the city and suburbs, at certain points 
already designated. The men did not want to be accom- 
panied by police, and completely succeeded in their 
task. Though often surrounded by spectators, they 
were never obstructed at their work, and it was remark- 
able that in many places the papers were not torn down 
for a long time after they vfere posted on the walls. M. 
de Saint Georges returned to the government printing 
office, where the printers were carefully watched until 
daylight. 

Besides the publication of the official acts, the other 
principal measures, executed simultaneously, were three 
- — the arrest of guilty or dangerous persons ; the invest- 
ment and occupation of the Palace of the Assembly ; 
and the distribution of troops on the points which were 
judged necessary. 

General Magnan, whom we found so steadfast in his 
adherence to the government of Louis Philippe in the 
Boulogne affair, had lately been appointed commander-in- 
chief of the army of Paris, and was devotedly attached 
to Louis Napoleon. At three o'clock in the morning 
he had received the necessary orders and instructions 
from the minister of war, and, immediately transmitting 
them to his subordinates, he had them all executed with 
the utmost accuracy and rapidity. In the barracks, the 
soldiersj called up one by one by their officers, dressed, 
took their arms, and fell into ranks in perfect silence. 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 515 

no trumpet or drum giving a signal that might disturb 
the neighborhood. By daybreak the regiments of three 
divisions of the army of Paris occupied the Quay d'Or- 
say, the Carrousel, the garden of the Tuileries, the Place 
de la Concorde, and the Champs Elysees. 

At six o'clock, M. de Persigny, attended by the forty- 
second of the line, and several detachments of the Kepub- 
lican Guards, arrived at the Assembly, and, having caused 
the gate to be opened, sent for the officer commanding 
the little guard already stationed there, whilst his troops 
took possession of the courts around the palace. The com- 
manding officer found himself regularly relieved by his 
superior officer, and the battalion on guard was taken back 
to the barracks. When the forty-second regiment entered 
the legislative apartments, three policemen, each accom- 
panied by ten agents, entered at the same time to arrest 
the questors. By half past six the Assembly had been 
surrounded, and occupied without the slightest difficul- 
ty, and M. de Persigny hastened back with the account 
to the Elysee * Palace. At the same moment, M. de 
Morny, accompanied by two hundred and fifty of the 
Chasseurs de Vincennes, took possession of the ministry 
of the interior, and presented M. de Thorigny a letter 
from the president, thanking him for his faithful ser- 
vices, but announcing to him the appointment of his suc- 
cessor. M. de Morny entered on his functions immedi- 
ately, dictated a circular for the prefects of the depart- 
ments, which he despatched by telegraph as soon as 
possible, together with the decrees and proclamations of 
the president of the republic. 

At half past three o'clock in the morning, M. de 
Maupas, the minister of police, had ordered, by express 
messengers, the immediate attendance of the officers of 



516 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

peace, and of forty police commissaries, at his office. 
Accordingly as tliey came they were placed in groups of 
two or three in separate rooms, to preyent questions. 
The ringing of a little bell called them, one by one, 
into the minister's private room, where they received 
from his own lips a full and true account of the real 
state of affairs, together with the orders which they 
were to execute, and papers full of instructions on every 
emergency. The minister knew his men, and had per- 
fect confidence in each one that was charged with an 
affair of trust. They readily undertook the task, and 
not one failed in his promise. Particular injunctions 
were given against the possibility of calling at the wrong 
house, or arresting the wrong man. Of this there did 
not seem much danger, for most of those to be arrested 
had been continually watched for the last fortnight, and 
never lost sight of by invisible agents, though not one 
of these agents had had an idea of the real objects of 
his mission, all having been put upon different and im- 
aginary services. The previous night, eight hundred 
sergens de ville and all the brigades of safety had been 
assembled at the office, under the pretext that the refu- 
gees of London were in Paris. Small parties of these 
were to assist each commissary of police as he made his 
arrest. The arrests were, moreover, to be protected by 
detachments of troops stationed at all the points of the 
city where they were to take place. It had been planned 
by the prefect of police and the minister of war, that the 
arrests were to be begun exactly ten minutes before the 
arrival of the troops at their different destinations. The 
agents of police were ordered to be at the doors of the 
persons named at five minutes after six, and the de- 
tachments of troops at a quarter after six. The arrests 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 517 

were to be effected all at the same time. Every tiling 
•was done with the most astonishing punctuality. 
Every arrest was successfully made^ and none occupied 
more than twenty minutes. 

The incidents attending the arrests of some of the 
principal personages^ as .recorded in the official report, 
have been always read with interest, and are generally 
regarded as highly characteristic. The arrest of Gen- 
eral Changarnier, the most important of all, had been 
intrusted to two men of extraordinary energy, Leras, 
commissary of police, and Baudinet, captain of the Re- 
publican Guard. They were assisted by fifteen chosen 
agents, thirteen Republican Guards, and by a picket 
of ten men on horseback. 

At five minutes past six, Leras rang at the door of the 
general's house. The porter refused to open the gate, 
and being evidently on his guard, an agent was ordered 
in a low voice to talk to him so as to occupy him at the 
gate and prevent his going up to the general. By the 
side of the gate, and belonging to the house, was a gro- 
cer's shop; some customers were already at the counter; 
it struck Leras that the grocer's lodgings must commu- 
nicate with the yard. He went into the store and de- 
manded the key of the passage in an authoritative tone ; 
he obtained it, and entered the house with his followers. 
The porter had already given the alarm by a loud ringing 
of the bells. Leras rushed up the stairs, and hastily 
entered the general's ajpartment. At the same moment, 
an inner door was opexied, and the general appeared at 
his bedroom door, in his shirt, with bare feet, and a 
pistol in each hand. 

The commissary caught his arms, and said, "What 
are you about, general? Your life is not in danger. 
44 



518 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

• 

Why defend it ? I came to arrest you. We are thirty / 
to one. Resistance is useless." 

The general became calm, gave up his pistols, and 
said, "I will follow you — I am going to dress myself." 
He was then dressed by his servant, and observed to 
Leras, " I know M. de Maupas to be a gentleman ; will 
you tell him that I depend on his courtesy not to deprive 
me of my servant, whom I cannot do without ? " The 
request was instantly granted. A carriage was at the 
door ; the general took his seat in it, two agents sitting 
before him, and Leras by his side. He still maintained 
a proud, defiant air, and occasionally looked out of the 
windows, as if expecting to see some disturbances. 

^*Do you know," said he to the commissary, *^what 
a narrow escape you have had ? In one second more 
you were a dead man ! I should have regretted it, how- 
ever, for I see you had no arms, and only did your 
duty." 

" If you had killed me, general," said Leras, " you 
would have only made a widow and four orphans to no 
purpose." 

"But what is this coup d^etat for?" abruptly asked 
the general. " The president's reelection was certain. 
He is giving himself much needless trouble." The 
commissary could not answer these questions. 

When informed that he was only going to prison, he 
became more calm. He had at first believed they were 
taking him to Vincennes to be shot ! During the journey 
he remarked, <^^ When the president is engaged in a for- 
eign war, he will be glad to send for me, to intrust me 
with the command of an army." The carriage stopped 
before the gate of a prison called Mazas, situated in the 
south-east of Paris, very strong, and built on the princi- 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 519 

pie of the Philadelphia Penitentiary, but new, clean, airy, 
warm, in short, rather comfortable as prisons go. Here 
the general was safely secured, but still invariably treated 
with every respect. 

The arrest of General Cavaignac was effected with no 
less ease and promptitude. The general was asleep when 
the commissary knocked at the door of his humble res- 
idence, in the Rue du Holder. Admission was refused, 
and the commissary threatened to burst it open, when 
the general opened it himself. The commissary said, 
'' General, you are my prisoner ; all resistance is useless ; 
I am ordered to seize your person in virtue of a warrant 
which I will read to you." 

The general was very much exasperated. He struck 
the table with his fist, and used some very violent ex- 
pressions. The commissary tried to calm him, but the 
general said, " What do you mean by arresting me ? 
Give me your names." " Certainly, general," replied 
the commissary ; " we will not conceal them from you ; 
but this is not the time. It is necessary to dress and 
follow us." 

The general quickly recovered his dignity. ^^It is 
well, sir," said he. " Send out your people ; let me 
dress, and I will be ready in a moment." The commis- 
sary complied, and the general again said, '^ Sir, grant 
me two favors ; one is permission to write a letter to a 
lady that I was to marry after to-morrow ; the other is 
that I may go with you alone to my place of destination." 
The commissary readily acquiesced. The letter to 
Mademoiselle Odier, the lady in question, released her 
from the engagement ; but the general soon received a 
reply, stating that she considered the arrest only an ad- 
ditional reason on her part for remaining faithful to it. 



.520 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

In tlie carriage tlie general asked, " Where are you 
taking me ? " " To Mazas/' was replied. " Am I the 
only one arrested ? " " General, I am not at liberty to 
answer that question." For the rest of the journey the 
noble prisoner maintained a gloomy silence. 

General Lamoriciere was also fast asleep when the 
commissary rang the bell. The domestic opened the 
door, but seeing the multitude, ran away, shouting, 
*^ Thieves ! " He was soon caught, however, and com- 
pelled to conduct the commissary to his master's room. 
The general got up without a word, and began to dress- 
himself. Looking towards the chimney-piece, he asked 
the servant what had become of the money he had placed 
there. 

'^ It is put away safely," said the servant. 

" Sir," said the commissary, " that observation is very 
insulting to me. Do you take us for thieves ? " 

" And how do I know that you are not ? " asked the 
general. The commissary showed him the badge and 
read the warrant for his arrest. The general was then 
silent. 

As they were going to the carriage the commissary 
said, " General, I have orders from the prefect of police 
to treat you with all possible consideration, and I wish 
to act with the greatest leniency ; I will put you into a 
carriage alone with myself, if you will give me your 
word of honor that you will not attempt to escape." 
" I promise nothing, I answer for nothing," hastily 
replied the general; " do with me as you please." 

In passing by the Palace of the Legion of Honor, he 
put his head out of the window, and attempted to 
harangue the soldiers. But the commissary drew him 
back, let down the blinds, and told him he should be 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 521 

obliged to use liarsli measures if he attempted the like 
again. The general said, " Do as you please j" but when 
he arrived at Mazas he appeared much more calm. 

He begged the commissary not to seize his arms, 
which were of value, and to send him some cigars, and 
Thiers' ^'History of the French Revolution." The com- 
missary complied with his wishes. 

General Leflo, who was lodging in the Assembly, 
was in bed when the commissary woke him and showed 
him his warrant. He got up immediately, but while 
dressing uttered threats against the commissary, and in- 
vectives against the president of the republic. " Napo- 
leon wishes to make a coup d'etat. We will shoot him 
at Vincennes, and shoot you along with him." When 
he was getting into the carriage, he addressed the colonel 
of the forty-second, and wished to harangue the soldiers. 
The colonel ordered him to be silent, and the soldiers 
crossed their bayonets on him. From the Assembly to 
the prison General Leflo did not speak a word. 

General Bedeau took matters even less coolly. When 
the servant had half opened the door, the commissary 
pushed it open, and the frightened servant running 
away, he followed him until he came to the general's 
bedside, when he immediately announced his orders. 
The general was thunderstruck, and protested loudly 
against such a violation of the constitution. 

^^ You are acting in opposition to the laws," said he 
to the commissary. " You must not forget that I am a 
representative of the people, and the vice president of 
the Assembly ; you cannot arrest me, since you cannot 
assert that you have taken me in flagrante delicto." 

The commissary said he only did his duty. 

" What is your name ? " asked the general. 
44 * 



522 LIFE OP NAPOLEON 111= 

^' Hubaut/' said the commissary, 

" M. Hubaut/' said the general, " I have seen honor- 
able mention made of your name in the papers, and I 
am astonished that you could be the man to undertake 
arresting me. I am vice president of the Assembly ; I 
have already shed my blood for the cause of order ; and 
I can risk my life again." 

" I cannot comment on my warrant," said the com- 
missary : " I can only execute it. You have risked 
your life, general, in defence of the laws ; do you think 
I am not willing to risk mine in the execution of my 
orders ? You had better get up with good will ; and do 
not compel me to use harsh measures." 

The general arose, but dressed himself with the 
greatest slowness. At last, when he was dressed, he re- 
fused to stir. "You must use force," said he to the 
commissary. " I will not go unless I am carried off. 
Now I dare you to seize the vice president of the Na- 
tional Assembly by the collar, and drag him off." 

" Do you acknowledge, sir," said the commissary, 
'^ that I have acted towards you with all possible civil- 
ity ? " The general did not deny it, and the commis- 
sary, seizing him by the collar, began to tug him along. 
He made vigorous resistance, however, and it was not 
"without much difficulty that he was got into the car- 
riage, where he still continued to shout " Treason ! to 
arms ! I am the vice president of the National Assem- 
bly, and they have arrested me ! " His cries attracted 
the notice of passers by, and the sergens de ville had to 
draw their swords while following the carriage, which, 
however, arrived without accident at Mazas. 

Colonel Charras at first refused positively to open his 
door, but seeing it begin to yield, said, " Stop, I will 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 523 

admit you," and directly opened it. The commissary 
told him his business^ and the colonel replied, "^ I knew 
it ; I fully expected it ; I might easily have made my 
escape, but I would not desert my post. I thought it 
would happen two days ago, and under that conviction 
I had loaded my pistol ; but I have discharged it ;" and 
he pointed to a double-barrelled pistol on the chest of 
drawers. " Had you come that day," he added, " I 
would have blown your brains out." He got into the 
carriage q[uietly, however, and was conveyed to Mazas, 
like the others. 

The arrest of the civilians did not present the same 
dangers as that of the military commanders ; still every 
precaution had been taken. M. La Grange, whom we 
saw playing such an important part on the famous night 
of the February revolution, submitted very peaceably, 
after all. He protested, however, against the violation 
of the constitution ; said he had but to fire a pistol shot 
out of the window to call the people to arms ; that if he 
chose to defend himself he could murder all the police- 
men ; and that they should use force to carry him from 
his house. 

On his way to Mazas he said several times, " It is a 
bold game, but it is well played." In the prison he 
said to General Lamoriciere, " Well, general, we wished 
to put the fellow in, but he has put us in instead." 

M. Grippo, the fiery socialist, had a complete arsenal 
stowed away under his bed — a large pile of newly- 
repaired arms, two daggers, a loaded pistol, and a mag- 
nificent red cap, perfectly new. The sight of the com- 
missary, however, completely prostrated M. Grippo. 
"When questioned as to the things found under his bed, 
he said he had purchased them, as he had a taste for 



524 LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 

the navy. Madame Grippo, a most energetic woman^ 
asked her husband in the strongest terms, " Is it possi- 
ble you have so httle courage as to allow yourself to be 
arrested without making resistance ? " But her eloquence 
had no effect ; M. Grippo surrendered without a blow. 

M. Roger (du Nord) behaved like a nobleman of the 
last century on receiving an order to go to the Bastile. 
He welcomed the commissaries with the utmost polite- 
ness, begged them to excuse him while his servant was 
shaving him and fixing his hair, and, as they were wait- 
ing, hoped they would take some cake and wine. 

" So we have a coup d'etat then," said he, pleasantly. 
" I knew all about it two days ago. People can have 
friends every where. Ma foi, I like it better than the 
stupid part we were playing at the Assembly. Louis 
Napoleon will succeed. That's incontestable." 

M. Baze, the indomitable questor, did not submit with 
such good grace. The officers found him standing at 
his bedroom door, in his drawers and a splendid morn- 
ing gown. He put on an oratorical air. 

" Commissaries," said he, '^ in the name of the na- 
tional representation, outraged in my person, I pronounce 
you to be without the pale of the law ! " He had no 
arms, which was fortunate ; for if he had there can be 
little doubt, from the way he kicked, bit, and scratched 
the policemen as they were carrying him to the carriage, 
that he would have done some serious injury before he 
was finally locked up in Mazas. 

M. Thiers was sound asleep when M. Hubaut, Senior, 
entered his bedroom. The commissary quietly drew 
back the crimson damask curtains, and explained the ob- 
ject of his visit. M. Thiers sprang bolt upright, put 
his hands to his eyes, and, lifting up his white cotton 
nightcap, asked, — 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 525 

^' What is all this?" 

''^ I am come to search your house ; but do not be 
alarmed ; no harm will be done you, monsieur ; there 
is no fear for your life." The last assurance was needed, 
for M. Thiers seemed rather alarmed. 

" What do you intend to do ? Do you know that I 
am a representative ? " 

'^ Yes : I am not come to dispute that point with you; 
I am here to execute the orders I have received." 

" What you are doing may send you to the scaffold." 

" jSTo consideration shall stop me in the discharge of 
my duty." 

'^ But is not this a coup d^etat 1 " 

'' I cannot answer any questions ; pray rise." 

'' Am I the only one in this situation, or are others of 
my colleagues implicated ? " 

" I really do not know, sir." 

M. Thiers got up and began to dress. Suddenly he 
turned to the commissary : '^ Suppose I was to blow 
out your brains." 

'' I do not believe, sir, that you could be capable of 
such a crime ; but I am prepared, and could easily pre- 
vent it." 

^' Do you know the laws ? Do you know that you 
are acting in direct opposition to the constitution ? " 

" I have no orders to dispute with you ; and, besides, 
your knowledge is far superior to mine. I can only ex- 
ecute the orders given to me, as I executed yours when 
you were minister of the interior." 

A search having been made in M. Thiers' cabinet 
without bringing forward any political correspondence, 
the commissary expressed surprise ; M. Thiers replied 
that for some time past, he had always addressed his 



526 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

political correspondence to England, and that none would 
be found in his house. He exhibited much hesitation 
and alarm when asked to go down stairs to the carriage. 
His fears were not diminished when he saw the road the 
carriage took. Still he talked all the way ; at first he 
used the most persuasive or the most threatening argu- 
ments to induce his captors to let him off ; then, finding 
su.ch efforts useless, he delivered himself up to a very- 
eloquent and sparkling effusioii upon the gravity of his 
present situation. Arriving at the prison he asked if he 
might have his cafe au lait very hot, and some books. 
He was overwhelmed with attentions, but his courage 
quite forsook him. When some of his companions were 
removed to Ham, he was excused from accompanying 
them, and, finally, as confinement aggravated a disease 
he had in the throat, he was soon sent ofi" to Germany. 

Not one of all that were arrested could complain of 
the least want of proper respect on the part of the ofii- 
cers, and the latter had no reply but passive silence or 
kind observations to make to the insults and menaces 
which they often received. Not one of the demagogues 
against whom warrants had been issued succeeded in 
escaping, or giving word to the secret societies, or call- 
ing the suburbs to arms. 

These were the events of the morning of December 
2, 1851. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL 527 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Coup d'Etat continued. — Action of the Representatives. — • 
The High Court. — Session in the 10th Arrondissement. — > 
Little Fighting until TJiursday, when General Magnan com- 
pletely conquers the Insurgents. — Dreadful Neivs from the 
JPi'ovinces. — Proclamation. — General Election. — Louis 
Napoleon invested with Supreme Authority hy more than 
Seven Millions of Votes. — Conclusion. 

But what were the representatives who had not been 
arrested doing in the mean time ? Notwithstanding the 
occupation of the Assembly, about sixty had succeeded^ 
early in the morning, in slipping into the building, one 
by one, through a little door, which, from some order 
badly given, or misunderstood, had not been sufficiently 
guarded. They met in one of the committee rooms, and 
sent for the president, M. Dupin ; he arrived just at 
the moment when an officer, by an order of the minis- 
ter of war, was trying to clear the room. M. JDupin, 
seeing the nature of the case, said, — 

" Gentlemen, I protest, as well as you, in the name of 
the constitution. But I also protest we can do nothing 
against force. If these gentlemen," pointing to the sol- 
diers, ^' think proper to turn us out, I don't see how we 
can manage to remain. I advise you to go away, and 
have the honor to wish you good morning." 

The members, seeing resistance useless, retired to the 
residence of M. Daru, one of their vice presidents ; there, 
before they were again interrupted, they succeeded in 
transmitting an order, calling on the High Court to as- 
semble, and then broke up with the understandig that 
they were to meet about noon in the mayoralty of the 



528 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

tenth arrondissement, where they were to be protected 
by the tenth legion of the National Guards. Other frac- 
tions of the Assembly met at different points; several 
members of the Left at M. Cremieux's, whence they 
were soon driven by the authorities, and the Mountain 
at some place in the Faubourg St. Antoine, where the 
police could not discover them. 

The High Court, in obedience to the summons from 
the representatives, immediately met in one of the halls 
of the palace, and after a two hours' sitting, drew out a 
decree declaring Louis Napoleon Bonaparte attainted of 
high treason, and convoking the national jury to proceed 
to judgment. This document, indeed, was not signed, 
as the judges desired new instructions from the Assem- 
bly ; and before they could be obtained a body of troops 
entered the hall, seized the papers, and dispersed the 
members. A copy of this decree, however, with the 
judges' names affixed, was soon written out and distributed 
over Paris, and through the dej)artments. Being re- 
garded as authentic by several, particularly by the upper 
classes of the Parisians, this spurious document was the 
cause of some of the troubles of Thursday. 

Every possible precaution against disorder seemed to 
have been taken. The railroad depots, the telegraph 
offices, and all the great public establishments were oc- 
cupied by troops ; all the printing ofEces were carefully 
guarded, and the publication of twelve journals, consid- 
ered dangerous, had been suspended. 

Still, towards twelve o'clock, about two hundred rep- 
resentatives, individually summoned, met at the mayor- 
alty of the tenth arrondissement. It had been expected 
that the tenth legion of the National Guards would de- 
fend the session ; but General Lawostine had threatened 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 529 

the most rigorous proceedings against any one that would 
beat the rappel without orders, and the few National 
Guards that had taken arms, had only done so in obedi- 
ence to a verbal message. Then commenced the famous 
'' last sitting of the Assembly, on Tuesday, December 
2d, 1851," almost interesting enough to be given with 
all its details. Though not^ amounting to a third of the 
National Assembly, the representatives proceeded imme- 
diately to vote the deposition of the president of the 
republic, and they had appointed General Oudinot com- 
mander of the parliamentary forces, and M. Lauriston 
commander of the National Guards, before they were 
interrupted by the arrival of the troops. Positively re- 
fusing to disperse, they were all arrested and lodged in 
the barracks of the Quay d'Orsay, where some of their 
colleagues, who had not been present at the session, 
coming to join them, by evening their number amount- 
ed to two hundred and twenty. 

The favor with which the coup d'etat had been regard- 
ed in the morning began to modify somewhat during 
the day ; when the surprise was over and the people 
had time to exchange opinions, a spirit of opposition be- 
gan to be manifested. This was principally among the 
middle classes ; the head quarters of disaffection seem- 
ing to be the Italian Boulevards, in front of the Cafe 
Tortoni, and the Cafe de Paris. Here the decree of the 
High Court, the protest of some representatives, and the 
decrees passed at the mayoralty, found the loudest read- 
ers and most eloquent expounders. But as it was not 
blouses, but black coats, that counselled resistance, the 
few disturbances that took place during the day were of 
little account, though immense crowds thronged the 
Boulevards, and the stores were generally shut. 
45 



630 ' LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

In playing such a fearful game^ tlie president should 
not appear to entertain any tiling like personal appre- 
hensions. To shoWj then, that he had no fear of what- 
ever danger might be supposed to exist, he left the 
Elysee at eleven o'clock, attended by his aids, his uncle 
Jerome, and several generals, and crossing the river, 
rode up and down the principal q^uays, generally received 
with acclamations of regard, especially by the army. 
At three he rode along the. Boulevards, and at four he 
reviewed a division of cavalry in the Champs Elysees, 
where his reception was most enthusiastic. He dined 
at the residence of M. Turgot, minister for foreign af- 
fairs. In the evening the Elysee was thrown open for 
a general reception, to which the citizens hastened in 
great numbers, desiring thereby to signify their adhe- 
sion to the new order of things. Every one that saw 
him that day bears testimony to his wonderful sang 
froid. Not the least trace of excitement was visible on 
his marble countenance. Paris was perfectly tranquil. 
The theatres opened as usual. There was as brilliant 
an audience as ever at the Italian opera, and the other 
theatres found no diminution in their receipts. Not a 
drop of blood had been shed the first day of the revolu- 
tion ; little resistance had been attempted ; the public 
was too indifferent, and repression was too certain. 

It could not be expected, however, that all would be 
surrendered without a struggle. Opposition, though 
stunned and prostrated, was not disabled. On this 
Tuesday night bold counsels were given and bold plans 
decided upon. The people evidently would not rise, 
and little success could be expected at first. But the 
fighting could be done in the poorer quarters of Paris, 
"where the streets were narrow, and every house a citadel ; 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 631 

opposition in many and various points would distract 
the troops ; protracted resistance would weary them : 
time w^ould be gained ; and the present apathy would 
certainly be succeeded by a reaction. It was resolved 
then to erect an immense number of barricades in dijffer- 
ent places at the same time ; to yield them when at- 
tackedj but to occupy them as soon as the troops had 
retired. These measures were bold, considering the 
immense number of soldiers in the capital ; but the rep- 
resentatives who advised them undertook themselves to 
lead the insurgents. During the night, the following 
appeal, among others, was posted up on the Boule- 
vards : — 

" Appeal to the People. 

"Art. 68. The constitution is intrusted to the pro- 
tection and patriotism of the French citizens. 
'^ Louis Napoleon is outlawed. 
•^The state of siege is abolished. 
" Universal suffrage is reestablished. 
• '^ Vive la republique ! To arms ! 
^^For the united Mountain, 

"The delegate, Victor Hugo." 

All through the 3d, things looked threatening. The 
streets were thronged with crowds highly restless and 
excitable. Manufacturers had received orders to open 
their establishments, but the workmen were too curious 
to see what would come to pass, and would not work. 
The troops, having retired to their barracks the previous 
evening, had hardly occupied their former positions, 
when word was brought that the barricades w^ere up. 
They w^ere at once attacked, and generally carried with 
little difficulty, though at one of them, in the Faubourg 



632 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

St. Antoine^ tlie representative Baudin was killed. His 
blood was the first slied in tlie contest. In the afternoon 
the minister of war published a proclamation, advising 
the inhabitants to keep in their houses^ and declaring 
that any one caught constructing or defending a barri- 
cade, or with arms in his hands, would be shot. Still 
barricades were erected in great numbers the whole day 
and evening ; and, though speedily demolished, they 
sprang up again almost instantaneously, and nearly ex- 
hausted the troops by the sheer labor of destruction. 
In the night an attempt was made to imitate the ghastly 
procession of February 23, 1848. Two dead bodies 
were put into a v/agon surrounded by torch bearers, who 
stopped every moment to wave their torches and cry, 
" Vengeance ! " But the band was soon put to flight by 
a charge of the policemen, and the bodies were carried 
off to be buried. Such was the second day of the coup 
d^etat. No serious engagement ; the insurrection flying 
when attacked ; agitation increased rather than allayed. 
Every one knew, however, that the next day was to 
be decisive. The government, though entertaining no 
apprehensions of ultimate success, took every means to 
spare bloodshed. Suspecting an attempt might be made 
on Mazas, to deliver the captive generals, an order was 
given to send them ofl" at midnight to the fortress of 
Ham ; they arrived there next morning. The other rep- 
resentatives, and all arrested on a special warrant, were 
still kept closely locked up ; their colleagues, those ar- 
rested at the mayoralty, were oflered their liberty, but 
would not accept it. In this difficulty they were put 
into carriages and driven to difl'erent points of Paris. 
Being induced to get out on some pretext or other, they 
suddenly found themselves in the middle of the street. 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 533 

abandoned by tbeir escorts ; and thus tbey were obliged 
by necessity to return home. 

On the morning of the 4th, in spite of the yigilance 
of the poHce, proclamations were seen on the walls, 
some announcing the rising of the provinces, and the 
march of the insurrectionary troops to Paris, others 
notifying that the usurper had seized twenty-five mil- 
lions of francs belonging to the bank, to purchase the 
army, and other reports of a similar nature ; all totally 
untrue, but showing a very highly excited state of feel- 
ing. Notwithstanding the formal injunction of the 
minister of war, greater crowds than ever thronged the 
streets, and the windows were full of spectators. In 
that part of the Boulevards which is in the neigh- 
borhood of the Porte St. Denis and the Porte St. Mar- 
tin, and all around in the adjacent streets, an immense 
number of barricades ,had been erected. The work was 
still actively going on. Young men, elegantly dressed, 
were seen giving orders, taking names, distributing 
money, occasionally bearing a hand, but at the least 
alarm disappearing and leaving their dupes to resist the 
soldiery. By nine o'clock the insurrection had evi- 
dently taken its ground, and was willing to accept a 
battle. 

" Trust me with the direction to-day," said General 
Magnan to the minister of war. " At two o'clock you 
will hear my cannon roar, and I promise you to strike a 
decisive blow. This evening Paris shall be rid of her 
enemies." 

St. Arnaud signified his assent. 

The general then took his measures. Most of the 
divisions under his command were to attack the insur- 
rection simultaneously from different points; others 
45* 



534 - LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

were to clear the streets ; and others were to prevent 
the disorder from spreading. 

At noon all the barricades were finished. The agita- 
tion of the city had reached its highest point. The 
troops began to take up their positions. The insur- 
gents, wondering at the delay, conceived the wildest 
hopes, and felt their courage redouble. The prefect of 
police urged on the attack, but General Magnan would 
not commence before the hour agreed upon. As two 
o'clock sounded, all the divisions pushed forward simul- 
taneously. The division that advanced along the Boule- 
vards was fired at, out of the windows and off the 
roofs of the houses, at three different points, as they 
were marching on, and several officers and privates were 
killed. The soldiers, indignant at what they considered 
an act of foul treachery, fired repeatedly at the houses 
whence the shots had issued, and- unable in their fury 
to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, several un- 
offending people unfortunately lost their lives for no 
other crime than the imprudence of leaving their houses 
at all on such a day. The division then advanced, and 
the battle soon commenced. The resistance was violent, 
but in three hours all was over. By five o'clock the 
firing had ceased, and one division alone had destroyed 
more than a hundred barricades. Yery few were erected 
after that hour, and these were quickly taken ; the 
troops bivouacked in the streets, where they were gen- 
erally treated most hospitably by the inhabitants, and 
numerous patrols, scouring the city in all directions, 
took up every suspected individual that they found on 
the road. 

On [Friday the troops still paraded the town ,• but 
every sign of resistance had disappeared. People began 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 535 

paving tlie streets, repairing tlie houses, and generally 
effacing as much as possible every trace of late events. 
On Saturday Paris resumed her wonted aspect ; the 
troops had vanished ; the stores opened ; business was 
resumed ; confidence was restored ; and the funds rose. 
It may be proper to notice the variations of the Bourse 
during the week. On Monday, 1st, the five per cents 
closed at 91-^%%, on Tuesday, 2d, at 89 y/^, on Wednes- 
day, 3d, at 91^Vo^ oil Thursday, 4th, at 91f/^, on 
Friday, 5th, at 92 yW, and on Satui'day at 96. Indeed 
the public from the beginning entertained no doubt 
whatever regarding the success of the government ; and 
with much apparent good reason, for even at the very 
height of the battle more than half the troops were 
resting quietly in reserve in their barracks. 

General Magnan has been called brutal for the part 
he took in quelling the insurrection, and Louis Napo- 
leon's stern determination has been stigmatized as heart- 
less. Such epithets seem hardly to be deserved. If an 
insurrection is to be put down at all, the sooner it is 
done the better. Energy that decides an affair at once 
is plainly more merciful than irresolution, that keeps 
people fighting for years. Louis Napoleon has never 
shown any symptom of want of feeling even for his 
most implacable enemies. On the contrary, he has given 
many proofs of a sensitive and compassionate disposition. 
It is true that the number of victims of the couj) d'etat, 
most of them innocent, too, was run up to two or three 
thousand; and it was confidently asserted that every 
prisoner arrested during the day was shot at night on 
the Champs de Mars. No one now believes these false- 
hoods. In fact, the number of slain, all together, did 
not exceed two hundred and eighteen, and that of the 



636 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

wounded three hundred and eighty-four. Of these the 
army had twenty-eight killed, and one hundred and 
eighty-four wounded. Nor was it even the genuine 
workmen that fought at the barricades. That class as a 
body had little to do with the insurrection. It was on 
the weak, the fanatic, or the wicked of all classes, that 
the doctrines of the secret societies, or the money of the 
royalists, could exert most influence. "When the dead 
bodies were picked up, a majority was found to consist 
of recognized malefactors, and well-dressed gentlemen 
wearing kid gloves. 

The army had not been cruel in its reprisals. Though 
the inexorable laws of a state of siege existed in all 
their force, nearly all the insurgents, taken with arms in 
their hands, or with their faces black with powder, were 
treated as regular prisoners, with moderation and hu- 
manity. There were but a few individuals shot after 
the battle, and these only in punishment for assassina- 
tions committed or attempted. An execution less san- 
guinary was that of ten or twelve urchins taken behind 
a barricade. General Herbillon ordered them a sound 
whipping, which was admini'stered on the spot, to the 
great amusement of the soldiers, though the destructive 
fire of the truculent little creatures should have slightly 
disposed them to clemency. 

The news from the provinces was dreadful It fully 
reconciled the Parisians to the energetic government of 
Louis Napoleon. The terrible details are unnecessary. 
It is enough to say that at the news of the state of 
aifairs in Paris, an insurrection broke out in twenty-five 
departments at the same moment, and got the upper 
hand in several for some days. Then could be witnessed 
some of the most atrocious scenes of the old revolutioUo 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON IIL '537 

There were priests insulted, or murdered, or placed at 
the barricades in the front rank, of the insurgents that 
they might receive the first balls. There were gens 
d^armes shut up in a burning barrack, surrounded by a 
barbarous multitude that echoed their shrieks for mercy 
with howls of savage exultation. Every where were 
castles invaded, and houses plundered, with loud cries 
of " Down with the whites ! " '^ Down with the Ai'is- 
toes ! " " Down with the rich ! " And the rich were, 
whoever had any thing. At Manosque, in the depart- 
ment of Lower Alps, the socialists, victorious at first, 
demanded as a condition from the maire of the commune 
the heads of three hundred of the most respectable in- 
habitants in the country, and the plunder of the town 
for three hours. In many places churches were burned, 
public treasure seized, and women outraged. Thus, 
from violation, pillage, burning, and murder, the first 
acts of the insurrection, we can hardly picture to our 
conceptions the hideous results had it triumphed. 

But though these disorders were violent and of long- 
er duration than those of Paris, for want of sufficient 
forces to act on the different points, they were not less 
efifectually put down. On Monday, 8th, the following 
proclamation was addressed to the French people : — 

" Frenchmen : The disturbances are quelled. What- 
ever may be the decision of the people, society is re- 
established. The first part of my task is fulfilled ; I 
knew that by appealing to the nation to put an end to 
party dissensions, I should not endanger the public se- 
curity. 

'' Why would the people revolt against me ? 

'* If I no longer possess your confidence, if your ideas 



538 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 

are changed, it is unnecessary to have recourse to insur- 
rection : it is enough to deposit a negative vote in the 
ballot box. I shall always respect the decree of the 
people. 

. ^^ But, until the voice of the nation has been heard, I 
shall not shrink from any effort, from any sacrifice, to 
foil the attempts of the disaffected. Besides, this has 
now become an easy task. 

^^ On the one hand, there has been shown the folly of 
contending against an army, united by the ties of disci- 
pline, and inspired by the sentiments of military glory 
and devotion to the country. 

" On the other hand, the calm attitude of the inhabit- 
ants of Paris, and the disapproval with which they 
blighted the insurrection, fully proved on which side the 
capital declared itself. 

'' In those populous wards where sedition formerly 
broke forth so readily amongst workmen, ever ready to 
obey its impulses, anarchy, this time, has only encoun- 
tered a profound and steady repugnance for its illusions. 

'' Thanks to the intelligent and patriotic inhabitants 
of Paris. Let them rest assured that my only ambition 
is to insure peace and prosperity to France. 

^^ Let them continue to lend their aid to the govern- 
ment, and the country shall soon quietly accomplish the 
solemn act which should usher in a new era to the re- 
public. 

" Given at the Palace of the Elysee, the 8th of De- 
cember, 1851. 

f^ Louis Napoleon Bonaparte." 

Scarcely was order reestablished in Paris, when Louis 
Napoleon, now at liberty to govern after his own inspi- 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON IIL 539 

rations, by the promulgation of new decrees, all tending 
towards the furtherance of public morality, or security, 
or the comfort of the poor, and the general prosperity, 
convinced France that he understood her well, had her 
happiness at heart, and that if he received her suffrages 
he would deserve them. On the 7th of December, he 
restored to religion its primitive destination, the old and 
beautiful Church of St. Genevieve, till then the Pantheon, 
and dedicated to the " great men of the country." A 
few days after, the minister of the interior invited the 
governor of each department to exert himself as much 
as possible to procure a cessation of labor on Sundays ; 
for, in many parts of France, some of the infidel teach- 
ings of the old revolution have taken such root that the 
sacred character of Sunday is hardly ever recognized. 
Other decrees announced the projection of great works 
of necessity, utility, or improvement, whereby the peo- 
ple might be employed, and, as was said, moralized by 
useful labor. 

At the same time the most vigorous measures were 
taken against the secret societies. The prefects were 
invested with extraordinary powers to deprive of their 
authority every government functionary suspected of a 
taint of socialist doctrines ; military commissions and 
mixed commissions were appointed to pursue and punish 
every accomplice of the late insurrection. Many have 
considered that these investigations were pushed too far, 
and it is certain that cases of imprisonment and trans- 
portation became very numerous. 

In these excitements election day soon came on. The 
Plebiscite offered to the French people for their accept- 
ance or rejection, as already said, was conceived in the 
following terms : — 



640 LIFE OF NAPOLEON IH. 

** The French people wills the maintenance of the 
authority of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and delegates 
to him the powers necessary to frame a constitution on 
the basis proposed in his proclamation of the 2d of De- 
cember." 

The balloting commenced on the 20th of December 
throughout all France. The general enthusiasm cannot 
be described. The departments most ravaged by social- 
ism v/ere generally the most ardent in voting for Louis 
Napoleon. It was useless for the royalists to advise ab- 
sence from the polls. The coup Wetat was triumphant- 
ly ratified. A few incidents may indicate the general 
spirit. In many communes there was not a single " No " 
given. In Youges, where there were seventy-six elect- 
ors, and seventy-six gave their votes, a workman, in a 
dying state, had himself carried in a litter to the polls, 
saying that he would not die happy if he had not voted 
for Louis Napoleon. Near Limoges, an old soldier of 
the empire, aged eighty-two, was advancing to the pre- 
siding officer to present his " Yes," when he tottered, 
fell, and expired. The chiefs of the royalist party had 
often attributed to their support the wonderful triumph 
of December 10,' 1848; but the election of December 
SO, 1851, no longer permitted them to repeat such an 
assertion. 

Out of the representatives that supported the Bona- 
partist cause, a Consulting Committee had been formed 
by the president, which, on the 14th, received orders to 
attend to the details of the election. On December 31, 
at eight o'clock in the evening, the members of this com- 
mittee proceeded in a body to the Elysee, where the 
chairman, M. Baroche, handed to Louis Napoleon an 
extract from a report, which declared the following 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 541 

to be tlie result of the election held in the eighty-six 
departments of France^ in Algiers, in the army, and in 
the navy : — 

" Total number of votes, .... 8,116,773 

« In the affirmative, 7,439,^16 

" In the negative, ....... 640,737 

^^ Votes annulled as irregular, . . . 36,820 " 

M. Baroche then addressed the president : — 
" When appealing to the French people in your 
proclamation of the 23. of December, you used these 
words : ^ I will no longer retain an authority which 
is powerless to do good, which renders me responsible 
for acts that 1 cannot prevent, and which chains me to 
the helm when I see the vessel plunging into the abyss. 
If you have confidence in me, give me the means of ac- 
complishing the great mission which I hold from you.' 
To this loyal appeal made to her conscience and to her 
sovereignty, the nation has replied by an immense ac- 
clamation, by nearly seven million four hundred and 
fifty thousand suffi'ages. 

'' Yes, prince, France has confidence in you ! tShe 
has confidence in your courage, in your deep reason, in 
your love for her ! And the testimony that she has 
just given you is so much the more glorious, as it is ren- 
dered after three years of a government whose wisdom 
and patriotism it thus consecrates. 

" Has the elect of the 10th of December, 1848, 
shown himself worthy of the trust which the people im- 
posed upon him ? Has he well comprehended the mis- 
sion he then received ? Ask these questions of the 
seven millions that have just confirmed the trust by ad- 
ding to it a greater and more glorious mission. 

^' In any country, at any time, has the national will 
46 



542 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

been ever so solemnly manifested ? Has any govern- 
ment ever received such an approval ? or a wider basis? 
or an origin' more legitimate^ or more worthy of the 
respect of nations ? 

'' Take possession^ prince, of this power which is so 
gloriously presented to you. 

"Employ it in developing by wise institutions the 
fundamental basis which France herself has consecrated 
by her votes. Reestablish in our country the principle 
of authority, too much shaken for the last sixty years 
by our continual agitations. Combat incessantly these 
anarchical passions which attack the very foundations 
of society. It is no longer mere odious theories that 
you have to pursue and repress ; they have manifested 
themselves in deeds, in horrible overt acts. 

'' Eet France be finally delivered from these* men who 
are always ready for murder and pillage, from these men 
who, in the nineteenth century, horrify civilization, and, 
by exciting the most gloomy recollections, seem to throw 
ns back five hundred years. 

^^ Prince, on the 2d of December, you took for 
your motto, France, regenerated by the revolution of 
1789, and organized by the emperor ; that is to say, a 
wise and well-regulated liberty, an authority strong and 
respected by all. May your wisdom and your patriotism 
realize this noble thought. Restore to this noble coun- 
try, so full of life and of the future, the greatest of all 
felicities — order, stability, and confidence. Repress 
with energy the spirit of anarchy and revolt. 

" Thus^ you shall have saved France, preserved entire 
Europe from incalculable dangers, and added to the lus- 
tre of your. name a new and imperishable glory." . 

To this discourse the president made the following 
reply : — 



LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 543 

" Gentlemen : France has responded to my loyal 
appeal. She has understood that I departed from the 
legal only in order to return to the right. More than 
seven millions of votes have absolved me by justifying 
an act which had nothing for its object but to spare 
France, and perhaps Europe, years of convulsions and 
suffering. I thank you for having authenticated official- 
ly the nationality and the spontaneity of this manifes- 
tation. 

" If I congratulate myself on this transcendent adhe- 
sion, it is not through pride, but it is because it gives 
me the power to speak and act in a manner becoming 
the chief of a great nation, such as ours. I feel all the 
grandeur of my new mission, and I do not disguise from 
myself all its grave difficulties. But with an upright 
heart, with the cooperation of all good men, who, like 
you, shall enlighten me with their talents and support 
me with their patriotism, with the tried devotedness of 
our valiant army, finally, with this protection v/hich to- 
morrow I shall solemnly beseech Heaven to grant me 
once more, I hope to render myself worthy of the con- 
fidence which the people still continue to repose in me. 
I hope to secure the destinies of France by founding 
institutions which will correspond at once to the demo- 
cratic instincts of the nation, and to the universally ex- 
pressed desire of having henceforward a strong and 
respected government. 

"In truth, to satisfy the demands of the moment, by 
creating a system which reconstitutes authority, without 
injuring equality, or closing any channel of amelioration, 
is to lay the true foundations of the only edifice capable 
of sustaining hereafter the action of a wise and salutary 
liberty." 



644 LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. 

This noble and deeply suggestive speech, delivered 
with much feeling, filled the hearers with sentiments of 
hopefulness and pleasure which they did not try to sup- 
press. It was often interrupted by bursts of vehement 
applause. 

Next day, Sunday, January 1, 1852, the Cathedral 
of Notre Dame was ornamented in all conceivable gran- 
deur and splendor. A Te Deum was chanted in thanks- 
giving for the great events of December the 20th. Louis 
Napoleon humbly knelt before the Mighty Power that 
makes and unmakes sovereigns. Invested by France 
with the right which comes from the people, he earnestly 
implored for the might which comes from God. After 
the ceremony, he proceeded in state to the Tuileries, 
where he was received with all honor, in the hall of the 
throne, and where, ever since, he has continued to reside. 

He was not yet called emperor; but the empire 
already existed under the name of the French E-epublic. 



Here we shall pause. It is perhaps the best stopping 
place. Our humble narrative, we fear, is already too 
protracted ; and here for the present it should most 
naturally conclude. So far, if not interesting, it has at 
least been instructive. It has enabled us to follow, step 
by step, the career of one of the greatest men of our 
times. It has shown him to us by turns in circum- 
stances almost as diversified as human life can present. 
We have seen his birth hailed with salvoes of artillery 
through the length and breadth of the empire at a period 



LIFE OP NAPOLEON III. ' 545 

of its greatest magnificence. We have seen his young 
intelligence expand amid the glories of the great empire, 
and beneath the affectionate eye of the great emperor. 
When the woful day of Waterloo came, we have seen 
his name denounced, his family banished, and himself 
condemned to live henceforward in hopeless exile. We 
have seen him receiving the best of all educations in con- 
sequence of this very blow ; for, living in a free land, 
mingling in perfect equality with a free people, he 
learned what a free man should know, and during the 
whole course of his studies he was constantly guarded by 
the love, and trained by the wisdom, of a mother highly 
gifted by nature and strengthened in prudence by mis- 
fortune. We have seen him, led astray, as most young 
men are, with wild notions of liberty, risk his life in the 
cause, with difficulty escaping the fate of his elder 
brother. We have seen him, in his restless desire to 
attain to something, glooming over old memories, and 
misled by the discontented state of France, make attempts 
which, though exceedingly unwise and premature, were 
still far from being so destitute of all chances of success 
as many were willing to believe. We have seen him 
spending his six years of captivity neither in frivolity, 
indolence, nor despair, but in disciplining his mind and 
maturing his talents by solid reading, deep study, and 
severe thought. We have seen him, by a wonderful 
revolution of fortune, taken as it were from his dungeon, 
and raised to the highest dignity in France, not in con- 
sideration of any acknowledged merit of his own, but 
through the magic influence which a mighty name still 
wielded in the hearts of the French people. In this 
exalted position, we have seen him act his difficult part 
with extraordinary dexterity; playing faction against 
46* 



546 LIFE OF NAPOLEON III. 

faction, enemy against enemy, and every day growin^ 
more and more in tlie favor of the nation. "We have 
seen that, when affairs had come to such a crisis that 
another revolution was inevitable, he had the resolution 
and the skill to execute his bold plan of affording to the 
people a quiet and thoughtful opportunity of declaring 
of what nature it was their will that that revolution 
should be. Finally, we have seen the people, still en- 
thusiastic for his name, but also now fully acquainted 
with his merits, and recognizing him as the only man 
able to save the country from the frightful impending 
dangers, hastening, of their own free and untrammelled 
will, with an earnestness never exceeded, and in num- 
bers never equalled before in this world, to acknowledge 
him as their elect, to trust him with their full confidence, 
and to invest him with every power necessary to insure 
the tranquillity of their beloved country, to maintain its 
independence, to increase its glory, and to guide it grad- 
ually and safely to the final goal of true and healthful 
liberty. 

Here then is a natural resting place. The actions of 
the Emperor of the French are still too fresh in our 
memories to be written with justice, if not to be rer ^. 
with interest. 









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